Outbound
by The Diligent Penguin
Summary: First story! A take on Naruto's childhood and how he eventually takes a massive journey across the world learning who he is and what it means to do the right thing. OCs are going to be in this. "A new life" was old title. This story is officially dead
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto

The big world

He wasn't sure this was the best choice any more. Standing in his small apartment Naruto could actually feel the silence around. Weeks ago, he turned six and decided finally to move out. Back then, he just couldn't handle it anymore. The old lady who lived there always scowled and the kids always picked on him and yet, looking at this place, he couldn't help but miss them. Turning six, he begged to leave and here he was, in this white empty room and now he was stuck here. They wouldn't accept him back there again now and now he was alone. Stepping outside, maybe Naruto could find someone else in this apartment to talk to.

"Hello!" Naruto said knocking on the door.

"Who is it?"

"I'm Naruto and I kinda just want to talk"

"Naruto? Where have I…? Get out of here!"

"Wait, why?"

"GET OUR OF HERE YOU BASTARD!"

"But-"

"LEAVE!" startling Naruto as he slowly backed away. Other doors were no better. Everyone who answered the door either refused to open door or opened it just to throw something at him. Sitting on a chair outside, Naruto breathed out a loud sigh.

"Why is it that I am always so alone" Naruto thought, looking into the sky. He thought that once he left that orphanage everything would be different but no, no it wasn't. As he continued walking, he felt worse and worse as he listened to the whispers around him.

"Hey isn't that the demon?"

"I can't believe that thing is allowed out"

"The Hokage should kill that thing while he still can"

Running and crying at this point, Naruto ran and ran until finally he was lost deep in the woods with the sun slowly setting. Too tired to move, Naruto collapsed on the ground panting as he cried to himself. This was even worse than the orphanage, he thought as back there they didn't say things nearly as hurtful.

Suddenly, crunching sound was heard nearby. Looking up, Naruto face quickly distorted to fear. Towering over the boy stood a huge monster unlike any he had ever seen. Wearing grey armor and wielding a sword, the monster wore a terrifying mask of a lion that chilled Naruto to the bone. Worse than all of this however, was the terrible stench. It smelled awful, it smelled of sweat and something more sinister.

"I can't believe how lucky I am to find the demon brat here" the man said with a sinister voice as he slowly lifted sword.

"Wait… what are you doing" Naruto inching back on the ground.

"Doing the world a favor by getting rid of the demon fox" he said as be brought down his sword barely missing Naruto's leg.

Helpless and trembling, death was near. What could he do? This monster was bearing down on him and as he tried to back away, he knew it was over.

As the final blow was coming though, something happened. In his fear and his despair, something awakened and the blow never came. Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto was not in the forest anymore but rather, in some building. Looking around, Naruto struggled to get up as he started to take in the surroundings. Scrolls were all over the place giving a musky smell and strangest of all though was the display next to him. A strange shuriken was stored inside with three points and red writing on it making Naruto wonder if it was responsible.

"You must be more careful you almost killed yourself kit!"

"Who's there?" Naruto said scanning his surroundings only to find nothing. Was it that monster again hiding somewhere in the shadows?

"No I am not, I am inside of you, you moron!"

"Then, you saved me?"

"Yes, I was able to channel your power to bring you here but we don't have much time, hurry and take that shuriken from that display and let's get out of here before someone sees us here."

"Why?"

"Just do it you spineless weakling!" Startling Naruto to look for something heavy.

Settling for a wooden scroll, Naruto shattered the glass taking the prize inside with him finally running out the window to head home.

~one hour later

"So how are you in my head" Naruto asked as he sat seemingly alone in his room

"I was sealed inside of you that's why now enough!" the voice said, "You are by far the most pathetic creature I have ever seen!"

"I-I-I-I'm sorry!" Naruto whimpered as he put his hands on his head.

"Don't say sorry you worthless scum! Do you want to know why you are getting picked on!" It shouted, "Well it's because you are weak! Pathetic! Soft!"

"But-But- But what can I do?" Naruto asked, "You saw how horrible that monster was, I didn't stand a chance!"

"That is why we are going to start training starting with learning to use that shuriken correctly"

"To do what?"

"To teleport but for now, rest and we'll start tomorrow"

"Wait I want to talk more! Who are you and do you want to-"

"GO TO SLEEP you stupid brat!" it screamed

"But-"

"NOW!"

Crawling into the tiny bed in the corner, Naruto settled down before finally doing what he always did. Sob to himself. Would thing's ever improve for him? Not even this thing in his head liked him and someone even wanted him dead. Covering himself in a sheet to hide himself from the world, his eventually stopped and slowly, he went to sleep a dark, nightmare-filled sleep.

So, what do you think? This is my first story and I know it is lacking and I wonder if some parts are believable so if possible, wise criticism would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

A day with him

The new training was something completely new to Naruto when he started first started under the training of the thing inside his head. It was hard at first with Naruto having done physical training but as time went on, Naruto couldn't help but question its usefulness.

"Why are we even doing this?" Naruto said to his new found teacher as he was doing pushups.

"First off kit, don't say it so loud, it makes you look like a crazy freak, just whisper it and I will still here you and second, we are doing this because you need stamina to make chakra which is necessary to use that teleportation. Right now, you don't stand a chance against them so we just have to focus on you getting away from them."

"I see" Naruto whispered shivering as he thought of that terror charging at him again.

"Wait! There's more than one of them?" Naruto asked just now realizing the weight of what the voice just said.

"Yes… I have seen them myself. A massive swarm of disgusting insects that hide like cockroaches waiting to strike at you. So keep this in mind kit, next time you meet with it, it probably won't be alone"

"I… I understand" Naruto gulped trying to visual an army of those soulless looking monster causing him to shudder.

"This is enough for now let's rest"

"But I can still keep goi-"

"Yeah? And what will you do if it barges into your house right then huh?" the voice asked muttering "idiot" under its breath.

"Ok" Naruto said as slowly sat down on the bed.

"By the way, do you have a name?" Naruto said hoping to learn more of the voice in his head.

"I do, but you are not worth enough to hear it. For now just call me Nine" the voice

"And what about those monsters? You know of them right? Can you tell me more about them?" Naruto continued, wondering about where they came from.

"Well they are in general called shinobi but I think the one you dealt with is one of the strongest ranks. Anyway, they lurk in the shadows waiting silently until their enemy is tired and weak to strike in fact, I would not be surprised if they are watching you right now waiting for an opening."

"Really?" Naruto said looking around desperately to spot some hint of grey around him.

"Yes, and since I rely on you for my connection to the outside world, I cannot detect them either and even then they are not your main problem."

"What do you mean? Is there something stronger?"

"Yes, they serve one far stronger called the hokage. He can easily kill an army made up of the guy you faced and still have energy to spare. I am unsure as to who the current one is as of the moment though as the last one died but fortunately, he will probably be weaker."

"Will he come for me?" Naruto said as he tried to make sense of such a destructive and powerful being.

"Possibly, for now he seems to tolerate your existence though so he you should be safe from him so just focus on dealing with that those shinobi."

"Ok, so we should start training again? I think I am rested up."

"Alright, let's go outside then because we need to do several things again."

"Outside? But that man might be waiting for us out there."

"I know, but we need to resupply ourselves and get more information on the layout of the village if we want to survive so just make sure to be cautious."

Stepping outside, Naruto covered his face as the sun hit him for the first time in a few days. It used to be a nice thing but now, he could not help but feel vulnerable as he was out here, for everyone to see. Slowly making his way, into town, Naruto slowly began to look for a store. It was first time shopping on his own though as someone brought food for him when he first got the apartment so he was unsure of what to do.

"Keep going, you can sense it can't you? They are not to be trusted" Nine said prodding the boy to keep going.

"Now, make sure to take in everything in, like where the alleyways are and trashcans. We'll probably need them later to hide. Anyway, this isn't working, you can hear them can't you? Those arrogant roaches muttering about you in shadows too cowardly to face you in person. They aren't going to sell you anything and even if they did, they'd probably try to trick and cheat you. Continue on, it looks like we'll have to get food ourselves."

"Ourselves?"

"Yes, you'll have to gather food for now but later we can find other means." Nine said

"In the forest?"

"Yes, so first let's try something here, I want you to sit down on the bench and close your eyes"

"Like this?"

"Yes, now feel the energies around you"

"What do you mean?"

"I am going to try to add some of my chakra to your that should increase you sensitivity to your surrounding"

"I think I am seeing something, like, a bunch of stars all over the place."

"Now, do you notice how some of them see brighter and stronger than others?"

"Yeah."

"Those are likely to be shinobi so just do this and at the very least, with this, I can at least sense if someone comes if you can't ok? Now let's go out to that river."

As he was there though finding food, Naruto however, the thoughts of the villager and the shinobi continued to press his mind.

"Why do they treat me like this?" Naruto asked thinking about the village

"You didn't do anything if that is what you asking but part of it is because you are weak." Nine said, "That is the way of the world."

"But that is so sad."

"Suck it up because no one cares, I assure you. Just become strong and then, no one will ever again treat you wrongly."

"I guess"

"Good, now let's go home"

~Back home

Looking at the food Naruto had, Naruto couldn't help but wish he could find someone to sell some food to him. Chewing on a bitter mushroom, Naruto again began to cry.

"Why am I so weak?" Naruto cried to himself, "If only I was strong then they wouldn't laugh and maybe- and maybe I'd have-"

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

"Huh?" Naruto said upon hearing the door

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

"Uh-Uh Nine what should I do?" Naruto asked but to no avail. It seemed that Nine had broken the connection or something though as the only response was silence.

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

Was it that monster? Or worse was it the hokage finally deciding to be rid of Naruto? Hiding under his bed Naruto trembled in fear as to what may have been behind that door.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

A woman? Crawling out from the bed Naruto slowly inched toward the door. Was it possible for one of those monsters to be a woman? Reaching the lock, Naruto struggled over whether or not to open the door.

"Hello? I heard you were new and I just wanted to meet since I just got back from a trip."

'Well, if it was a shinobi, they would have broken down the door by now' Naruto rationalized and so he slowly turned the lock and the slowly creaked the door open…

Cliffhanger! Anyway what do you? Naruto's only six so I am kind of wondering if his behavior is realistic enough and what I could do to make it more realistic. Respond please!


	3. Chapter 3

A Bright Horizon

"Hello!"

Naruto could only stare now at this odd woman visiting his doorstep. Radiant green eyes and long bright brown hair adorned her face but what truly made her different was that smile on her face. Glancing side to side to make sure that it was directed at him, Naruto didn't know what to say. Few people were ever looking at him and not angry at him let alone smile but here this woman was, with her knees bent now awaiting a response.

"Hi? Naruto said glancing at his feet shyly as the woman began giggling all of a sudden.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, anyway, my name is Melosa Cinna and I just wanted to say hi to the cute new resident that has moved." The young woman said

"Me?" Naruto said pointing at himself looking at this strangely pleasant lady.

"You are so adorable" the lady said as she slowly reached her hand forward only for Naruto to jump back in fear at this new advance.

"What's wrong" she said tilting her head in confusion as Naruto hugged the door staring at her.

"Mm" Naruto murmured as his eyebrows creased in worry as he looked at her outstretched hand.

"Come on, I won't bite" Melosa said reaching her hand closer, "I just want to be your friend."

"Friend?" Naruto said quietly as he stepped within her reach

"Yes" she said, patting his head gently as she slowly got up, "I heard you were an orphan and I thought maybe you wanted someone to keep you company. May I come in?"

Backing up to let her through, Naruto watched at Melosa gracefully glided into the room. Looking at the room however, Melosa did not look pleased.

"Why is this room so empty?" she asked as she looked around for anything that might indicate that the room belonged to a child stepping on a mushroom by mistake.

"Hey! Don't step on my food!" Naruto shouted motioning her to move her foot.

"Food!" Melosa said, "What are you talking about"

"That!" Naruto pointed, "it took all day to get that!"

"I see…" Melosa said looking down at the measly pile by her feet, "how about you come over to my room then and I'll cook you something as an apology?"

"What? You really want me to come over?" Naruto said, his head once again staring at the ground beneath

"Of course!" she said holding grasping his tiny hand and gently tugged to get him to move. Naruto refused to move though. For all he knew, this could have been some kind of trap and maybe she was that monster in some disguise.

"Well, if you don't want to, then how about I cook for you here?"

"Ummmm… it's okay"

"No, no, no, I insist" Melosa said as she quickly ran out the door leaving Naruto completely bewildered at he stared at the spot she just stood before finally closing the door. She probably was lying so she could run away Naruto thought returning to his loneliness. This however, was not the case as soon, there was another knock on the door.

"Hi?" Naruto said opening the door to see the young lady who now had her hand's laden with food and utensils.

"I said I was coming back didn't I" she said, walking in and putting the thing's in the kitchen. Taking out a knife she slowly started cutting some vegetables.

"W-w-wait!" Naruto said, "it's ok!"

"And I said that I insist so sit down, I promise it won't take long." She sad happily as she began to hum a tune.

"…Fine…" as he finally sat down on his bed staring intently at the lady s listened to her tune. It was soothing, her tune, lovely even and soon Naruto couldn't help but hum along too as his chest began to feel warm for some reason.

"It's ready" she finally said spooning the soup into a bowl.

"It's just chowder since I haven't gone shopping in a while but I hope you like it" finally handing it to Naruto as she herself began to clean the pots.

"Wait why aren't you eating?" Naruto said as he stared at the bowl in his hands.

"Oh for heaven's sake it's not poison or anything" she said as she took a small sip of the soup.

"See?"

Looking at the food again, Naruto slowly lifted the spoon with soup to his lips and taking a breath, drank some of it.

"Well Naruto?" Melosa said

"…"

"Naruto?" she said again now putting her hand on his shoulder in worry.

"UMAI!" Naruto suddenly shouted knocking Melosa off her feet.

"This is so good!" Naruto said eyes brimming with joy as he took another bite.

"Well, I'm glad you like it Naruto." she said smiling as she saw the previously despondent child now actively gulp down her food.

Crying uncontrollably, Naruto could not believe what was happening. That warmth that was in him previously had now grown tenfold and the ends of his lips seemed to have a will of their own as they slowly curled upward. Finishing it all quickly, Naruto was know grinning widely as he looked at her.

"Do you want seconds?"

"Mmhm. But don't you want some too?" Naruto said looking at her intently

"It's alright, I've already eaten" she said refilling his bowl as she began to wonder why Naruto was here to begin with.

"So Naruto, is anyone taking care of you?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I was just curious" Melosa said wondering what kind of asshole leaves a child alone in an apartment by himself.

Finishing his second bowl now, Naruto was full but he didn't want to let her leave. Staring at his now empty though, Naruto just didn't know what to say. It turns out however, he didn't need to say anything though.

"Are you alright, Naruto" she said now concerned about the boy's sudden change in attitude.

"I-I just…" Naruto trailed off unsure of whether or not to ask her.

"Do you want me to stay here for the night?" she said gently as she tried to make eye contact with Naruto who was now even quieter than before.

"R-r-really?" Naruto said, eyes wide in shock.

"If you want me to?" to which Naruto responded with a quick nod.

"Alright then" she said quickly getting a bamboo futon and laying it down on the ground.

"You don't have to sleep on the ground! You can sleep on the b-"

"No." Melosa said raising her hand and then slowly put it around Naruto neck.

"You are a child Naruto, so don't worry. Let the adults take care of you." She whispered slowly pulling Naruto into a hug which Naruto slowly reciprocated. It was warm there but most of all though, Naruto felt something he never felt before: he felt safe.

"Now let's get ready for bed." Melosa said as Naruto again gave a nod.

Once finished, Naruto finally crawled into his bed and after hearing and saying good night for the first time, laid down to think about all that just happened. Hugging his chest tightly, the warm feeling was still there making him sigh as he slowly and joyfully let his eyelids droop and slowly close.

Dang, this was long. I actually don't know but I wrote this all in one sitting so I am tired right now. By the way, thank you for the reviews! Here are some responses

To Uzamaki Ricki: What do you mean by geez in your comment? Like, I am not offended, I am just curious as to what you think need improvement? I really want to know so please comment again as it would greatly help. Oh, I also want to mention because I noticed that you are a Naruhina that I might not add romance for a while. I want to focus more on Naruto's growth right now and I don't really want them to meet as children because that just adds friends (which Naruto did not have). Anyway, sorry if that was what you wanted

To lostmoonchild: Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

The town of murmurs

'What the hell is this!'

"Nine?" Naruto said groggily, "What wrong?"

'What do you mean 'what's wrong' you moron! Look in front of you!'

Slowly lifting his head to get a better view, Naruto saw what he must have been talking about. There, sleeping on the ground was Melosa peacefully hardly making a sound.

"Yeah, well you fell asleep and then well, she came in."

'And you just let her!' Nine shouted, 'Are you an idiot? She could be trying to kill you stupid idiotic oaf!'

"It was fine." Naruto whispered, "she was really nice and she even fed me so stop complaining."

'Complaining! Oh well excuse me for having some common sense about letting random strangers in where they could kill you when your back's turned.'

"But she didn't."

'You mean she didn't _yet_'

"No, I think… I think she is different from the others. I mean she smiled and hugged me and-"

'All to deceive you so she could kill before you can teleport'

"No you're wrong I-"

'She is going to wait and wait and smile and cuddle and once you feel all safe with her… Shing! She'll cut you like a pig and-'

"SHUT UP" Naruto finally screamed not taking.

"What? Naruto, what's wrong?" Melosa said rubbing her eyes having been woken by the sound.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"… Yeah, it was just a nightmare"

"Well, it's alright now, everything's fine now" she as she tried to hug Naruto again only for him to flinch like before.

Drawing her hand back and getting up to sit on the bed, she looked as though she was analyzing him.

"What was your nightmare about Naruto?" she finally said gently as she tried to calm the now distraught little boy.

"Well, I don't really, that is, I just-"

"If you don't want to talk about it that's fine Naruto, you don't have to tell me. But just know that you don't have to be afraid of me. I promise you." She said as she smiled warmly.

Relaxing a little after her words, Naruto still wasn't sure about whether or not Nine was right. She was so nice but it was true, what if she was working for that monster or even worse, the hokage? But what if she wasn't? What if, for the first time, someone was actually just trying to be nice to him?

"I'm sorry" Naruto finally whispered feeling bad for hurting her feelings.

"It's alright" Melosa said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"You've gone through so much alone Naruto. It's alright." She said hugging Naruto, " just a little at a time."

'You are so guillible! 'Oh I am nice so trust me', 'ok!' gosh you are going to die quick' Nine chimed in.

"Oh shut up"

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing!"

"Alright well, I'm going to make breakfast, are eggs okay?"

"Mhm" Naruto responded to which she finally got up.

As he sat there though, Naruto again started thinking. She just so much kinder than everyone else but why? Everyone else always threw stuff at him, yelled at him, sneered at him, insulted him so, why was she nice?

"Uhm, Miss Cinna-"

"please, call me Mel. That is far to formal"

"Oh okay. Uhm, Mel, do you know why everyone so mean to me?"

"I am sure they aren't really mean. They probably are just shy?"

"But they throw stuff at me and yell at me all the time."

"Wait! What? Naruto, you mean people do that to you? Who?" Melosa said, eyes wide.

"Well, the lady at the orphanage, people in the village, uhm, everyone I guess."

"Why?"

"I don't know! They been like this ever since I could remember I didn't do anything I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"It's okay it's okay" she said gently trying to calm down the red faced child as he screamed angrily.

"The food's almost ready okay? So let's talk about this sitting down."

"Alright." He said as they both sat down on the bed.

"Do you know who your parents are?" she finally said as they slowly ate together.

"No"

Well that made things clear to her. Whatever it was must have been his parent's doing and now it was Naruto who had to deal with the consequences. Creasing her brow in anger at this new fact, she knew what she had to do.

"We should go see the Hokage and-"

"What!"

"Well, we have to go see him to figure out what you-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOO!" Naruto said, now shaking his head as he put his hand over his ears.

"Why are you so scared Naruto?"

"He'll kill me! I can't go there! He wants me dead I know it!" Naruto shouted vehemently

"Alright, Alright, it's okay Naruto" she said gently trying to calm him.

"I am not going to take you there"

"Promise?"

"Promise." She smiled

'Oh boy, I feel safe now. Maybe you should ask for a pinky swear too or a thumbs up'

"Shut up"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You've been something under your breath twice now Naruto." She said staring at him with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah uh… it uh… my imaginary friend! Yeah he uh, is bothering me." Naruto said letting out a breath of relief in his head.

'Smoooooth, kit'

"GRRRRRR!"

"Naruto?"

"Oh uhm, I'm finished!" Naruto said handing her the now empty plate.

"Hmmm, alright Naruto" She said, still eyeing him somewhat weirdly.

"By the way, is there anything you want to do today?"

'We have to train Kit! He's still out there!' Nine urged

"Oh yeah, uhm, Mel, I need to train today so I can't."

"Why do you need to train? You're only six."

"Yeah but, you know, I need to… defend myself, you know?"

"Defend yourself? Naruto has someone been bullying you are something?" she asked in which Naruto only glanced out the window uncomfortably now wanting to talk about it.

"This is wrong."

"Hm?" Naruto said, tilting his head.

"It isn't right for you to be scared like this, you are just a child!" she said grasping his hand

"Let's go outside." she said now pulling him outside.

"Where are we going?"

"I am taking you to town to have some fun although first we'll need to go shopping. You definitely need some toys and better clothes for yourself." She said grasping his worn sleeves.

"But-But-but –but." Naruto tried to say only to be stopped by Mel.

Hugging him gently, she gently petted his head as she whispered, "it's alright Naruto, if someone tries to hurt you I'll protect you. I promise you"

"Ungh…" Naruto said uncomfortably, "Are you sure?"

"I swear it"

Getting up, she slowly walked with Naruto hugging her leg tightly as they made their way into the village. Walking along through the bustling roads in village though, it was clear that Mel being with him was creating quite the stir.

"Who is that woman with him?"

"Poor girl, probably doesn't who she's with"

"That demon child probably tricked or something the evil creature he is"

"That women must be really screwed up to be with it"

Listening in on all these Naruto slowly began clenching his fists as he began to seethe. It was one thing to always be insulting him, but to insult his new… friend was an entirely different.

"Don't listen to them Naruto." She whispered calmly seeing him shake with anger, "they aren't worth it."

"But they are being jerks! And they're talking about you too! Aren't you upset?"

"A little but," she added, "they don't matter. They're just strangers and it doesn't matter what they think."

"But there are _them_ around us too."

"Who's them?" she asked as Naruto then proceeded to point at a group nearby. Wearing green vests and sporting a metal headband with a leaf on it, the group stared at them silently with almost murderous intent as the two slowly began walking closer.

"Those shinobi? Yeah, they do seem to be glaring at us but don't worry, I don't think they'll do anything else."

"But what if they do?"

"Then I'll protect you."

"But… There's one… two… seven… eight… four! Four of them of them" Naruto said trying to count them

"Okay, first, it's one, two, _three, four, FIVE_ of them okay? And second, Naruto, even with that mind don't worry. I won't let any of them hurt you no matter what happens." She said trying to comfort Naruto.

'Oh boy, a frail, small woman is going to protect us, I feel safe.'

"Hush!" Naruto said

"Your imaginary friend?"

"What? Oh! Yeah, it was him."

"Hm, okay. How about we get clothes from here Naruto?" she said pointing at a small children's store.

"They don't like me though." Naruto said eyeing the store carefully

"I see… is this the same with all the stores?" she asked

Naruto nodded

"Well, then, there is no sense in looking elsewhere for clothes is there?"

Naruto nodded again.

"I'm here with you Naruto, so let's go. Together." She said as they both walked in.

"Welcome!" a clerk said standing behind the counter as she waved to Mel.

"May I help you find what you're looking"

"Yes, I'm looking for new clothes for this little one here." Mel said gesturing to Naruto who was currently hiding behind her.

"Wait, who?" the clerk said stretching her neck to try to see the hidden boy.

"Naruto, come out from behind me." She said, as she gently pushed out the tiny boy who had his hands over his head finally giving the clerk a good view causing her to gasp to shock.

"IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS!" the clerk said wide-eyed.

"It's a child who needs new clothes if that's what you think he is." Mel said fiercely

"I am not selling ANYTHING to that de- …"

"What do you mean 'de'? Come on finish your sentence, why don't you tell us exactly why you won't sell clothes to a small six year-old child." Mel said angrily

"I can't! Not in front of that _thing _anyway."

"Do not call Naruto a 'thing'!"

"Look! I am not going to let you be tricked by that-that… monstrosity."

"I said, DO NOT CALL NARUTO SUCH THINGS!"

"What's going on here!" causing everyone to turn around to see the shinobi at the door.

"Nothing, I was just trying to solve a problem in my store" the clerk said gesturing to the two.

"Well this woman refuses to slow clothes to this boy"

"There is nothing illegal about selling clothes to little brats." The shinobi growled causing Naruto to cower in fear again behind Mel's leg.

"It is however, to generate a disturbance in store so I suggest that you take _it_ out of here" he said teeth clenched.

Glaring at the shinobi fiercely, Mel slowly took Naruto hand as they both slowly began to leave.

"Wait! Miss" the clerk shouted, "if you still want to know, then come by later when the stores closed, I tell you everything then."

"Remember the Hokage's rule?" the shinobi said under his breath

"I know, it's just around the kids though so it's fine with her"

"I suppose" he said, not noticing that the two leaving the store.

Walking down the road, it seemed the murmuring around them had decreased somewhat as people now seemed stunned and wide-eyed at the tirade that occurred in the store. As for the two themselves, both were incredibly silent. Mel just didn't know what they say know, as she looked on the boy who was incredibly shaken by all that had happened in such a short time.

"Naruto" she finally said quietly looking at the boy with a pained expression.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" Naruto said looking up at her in confusion.

"I guess, I just didn't take what you said seriously enough. I mean, you told me and everything and yet, I still thought it would be a good idea and, I'm sorry you had to see that"

"No, no, I am not sad" Naruto said quietly, "in fact, I am kind of happy. You… you stood up for me. No one's ever done that for me. Ever… Thank you… thank you."

Naruto was scared at first back there. He kept thinking how she might turn on him but she didn't. She stood there. Yelled for him. He remembered thinking how she looked like any regular lady at first but now, in seeing her do what she did, she looked more glorious that a knight in shining armor and knowing that she was here with him, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

"Your welcome." She said, "And thank you as well."

"For what?"

"For smiling Naruto. I'm glad to see that you are feeling better. It seems though, from the treatment we have seen that we won't be able to get new things until the merchant festival comes to town so, is there something that you want to do?"

"Welllllll. There is something that I want but it's kind of silly"

"Don't worry, you shouldn't have to worry about being silly. Just do what makes you happy."

"Ok, well, I really want to go to the park and…" Naruto said trailing off at the end.

"Yes?"

"I really want to have someone push me on the swing there. I mean, you don't have to or anything, I do know how to myself it's just…"

"No one's ever pushed you before" she finished for him

"Yeah"

"I'd be more than happy Naruto to" she said smiling.

The two made their way to the park and much to Naruto's own relief, it was empty. Making his way to the swing, he felt the rusty old thing as memories quickly rushed in. The looks of the adults who were here yelling at him to leave or walking away with the kids as he himself was left alone with nothing but the swing and the kids emulated this. They were even worse sometimes, kicking sand into his face, pushing him off the swing and never letting him play. This time things though, things were different. With Mel behind him pushing him, he felt like he was soaring as he was going higher than he ever could before. Naruto squealed as he threw his hands into the air and felt the wind rush across his face.

"Higher! Higher!" Naruto shouted gleefully. It was so nice, having someone to help you he thought. He had become so accustomed to being alone before that thought that was all he needed but now he knew he was wrong. This woman, in the span of two days, brought hope to him and showed him the joys of friendship, of love, of caring about someone else just because they were important to you. The day wore on as the two spent it together in bliss and as the hours passed and the two tired, they finally returned.

As they returned home though, it was almost the time for that meeting with that clerk and all that was left was whether or not she would go. She saw it in Naruto ever since the day she met him that feeling, that self-loathing. It pervaded every part him in the way he walked in town to the way he reacted to new people. He hated himself. He wondered why the villagers hated him and in these six years, he has, at least subconsciously, believed it was fault as he stared in to the angry mob around him. He deserved to know, she decided, whatever it was, that Naruto deserved to know, so that he could grow and learn from it and hopefully, he'll stop hating himself for it.

"I'm leaving Naruto."

"Promise you'll come back?" Naruto said, worried

"Yes, and I promise that I won't hate you either, no matter what you have done" she said patting him on the head as she exited the room.

'Fool.'

"Where have you been all day?" Naruto asked

'I was on vacation at a tropical island.'

"In my head?"

'No you idiot! I was just thinking to myself while you were having your cutesy wootsy time with the lady, dumbass'

"Why are you always so mean to me?"

'Why are you always so stupid?'

"Seriously!" Naruto persisted, "Is it because of the same reason that they hate me?"

'No, I hate all of your kind equally'

"You're not human?"

'I'm a mysterious voice in your head with no body of my own what do you think?'

"Is that a trick question?"

"UGH! NO! NO I AM NOT HUMAN!"

"Okay, okay no need to be so upset about it. So, why do you hate people then"

"Because they are weak and easily distracted. Just like you."

"I am not easily distracted!"

"Oh really? Then what happened to the training we were supposed to do today huh?"

"Well, she offered to spend time with."

"Yeah, I'm sure that'll save you in long run"

"Hey, she stood up for me today against some of the villagers"

'Yeah? By scolding them or something? And if they attacked you two?'

"She promised she would protect me." Naruto said defensively

'Yeah? With what, her 'love'?'

"I don't know, but she swore!"

'Promises aren't everything. They are only a fancy topping to some shiny words. Meaningless to those who have an ounce of sense in them.'

"You're wrong! She is going to keep her word, I know it!"

'Yeah, you want to find out why right? And what use is that knowledge?'

"I'll-I'll apologize" Naruto said, "That'll fix everything"

'You imbecile. You think that's all it takes to get people to like you? Just an 'I'm sorry'? Never mind the fact of whether or not you even _should_ say sorry or that they deserve it or that if it be worth it or not, they're never going to accept it. Hatred and strength are the driving forces of this world and as long as you remain all loving and hopeful and most of all weak, no one will respect and you'll always get beaten around never mind how many weakling friends you have.'

"I think your wrong. I think, I _can_ get the villagers to like me and accept me if I try hard enough and that it will be worth it in the longrun."

'Whatever shithead, you'll learn soon enough that promises aren't everything.' Nine said as he slowly vanished from within Naruto's mind.

"Hmph" Naruto said peeved. It didn't matter what Nine said, everything would work out. The villagers would like him one day if he had Mel with him. He knew it.

An hour later, the door finally opened revealing Mel, red with what was once rage and dried up tears down her eyes.

"Mel!" Naruto said joyously running to her.

"Did you find out?" he asked only for him to be enveloped in a hug.

"You don't deserve their awful treatment Naruto" she said gently running her hands through his spiny head, "You don't deserve this at all."

"What is it?"

"Well Naruto, let me explain from the beginning…"

Cliffhanger. Damn this is so tiring! This one was over 3000 words. God it hurts. And worst of all, I'm beginning to realize how I need to include a variety of things that I didn't think of in the beginning. More importantly though, what do you think? I feel like I had some difficulties with the Kyubi talking and with transitioning between scenes which was stressful to say the least but yeah, suggestion on improvements of any kin are appreciated. Good day!

Oh by the way, sorry for uploading the wrong chapter 3! Thank you Monkey! Also, thanks for the advice. I tried to add more details in this story to improve although I am not sure if it turned out too well but anyway, give more comments.


	5. Chapter 5

Who to Hate

"Six years ago, way before I moved here, there was an attack by a demon do you know of it?" Mel asked

"I think I heard a little bit about it but no, I don't really _know_ about it." Naruto said confused as to what that has to do with it.

"Well, apparently during time, a gigantic demonic nine tailed fox attacked the village threatening to destroy it completely. Therefore, in order to stop it, they needed to seal it."

"Seal it?" Naruto said, not understanding.

"I mean, it needed to put it in a cage."

"Uh huh."

"The cage however, couldn't be made of metal"

"Then, what was it made of?"

"They used a person. Someone who was just born."

"Wait, the you mean…"

"Yes, the fourth hokage sealed the demon into a newly born child. That was you Naruto."

"So, does that mean that I…" Naruto whispered, "am the demon?"

"No!" Mel said fiercely, "that is not true! You are not the demon Naruto. You're a hero."

"Doesn't feel like it" Naruto muttered bitterly

"I know Naruto." Mel said tenderly, "that clerk and everyone around says that you are the demon and that you should be killed. They are cruel and wrong Naruto."

"…Why me though?" Naruto said, "why couldn't it be someone else, someone who had a family?"

"I guess, Naruto, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time Naruto." She said gently, "And I know Naruto, they have hurt you. But just never forgot, you're a good boy Naruto, a very, very, good boy"

Tears slid down Naruto's cheek as he was in her arms. All these years, he has been told he was rotten, filthy, evil, corrupt and atrocious and now, he finally knew why. He was not a bad boy. He was good. He didn't do anything wrong. This thought in itself, brought him joy. At the same time though, there was something that worried him.

"Mel, there's something I want to say. It's about my imaginary friend"

"Yes I suspected as soon I heard the story as well. Is he it?"

"He's not talking to me right now but yeah, I think he is."

"What do you think of him?"

"I don't know…" Naruto began, "I mean, he's irritating but at the same time, he's helped me so, even knowing that he killed so many people, I just don't hate him that much."

"Well that's good Naruto" she said assuring him, "It's not good to hate people. It does little except cloud our judgment causing pain to the innocent. Like how the villagers are to you, an innocent little boy."

"Mel? Can I please have some time to myself? Just like an hour so, I mean, if it not too much trouble."

"Of course." She said as she got up to leave the room.

"And Naruto."

"Yes?"

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'll always be available alright Naruto?"

"Yeah, I understand"

"Okay" she said closing the door leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts and the Kyubi.

"Nine? Are you there?"

'…'

"Nine please, I really want to talk"

'Fine, what?'

"I just want to talk"

'Well?'

"So, you are the demon, the Kyubi, right?"

'No, I'm Santa Claus and this is just my hiding spot when it isn't Christmas'

"Yeah, well, is Kyubi your real name"

'No, neither is Nine, but my real name is not for someone as pathetic as you to know.'

"Huh, well… alright" Naruto said, "well where are you from?"

'Why do you care'

"I just want to know more about you, that's all." Naruto began, "You're supposed to be trapped in me so we may as well get to know each other."

'Huh, fine. I come from the spirit world' Nine said exasperated with the boy.

"Wait, you're dead?"

'No idiot, spirits are different from ghosts. I come from a different world entirely filled with creatures like me'

"Like you?" Naruto said astonished

'Yes, like me, it is a world filled with gigantic creatures like giant toads and snakes.'

"Really, what is it like there?"

'Aside from the huge beasts nothing really. We have wars, fights and such just like this world.'

"Well, what about fun things?"

'Fun things? I am the great Kyubi brat. My fun IS war and fighting.'

"Didn't you have a village or something of your own though?"

'Yes, but that was long, long, time ago'

"Then wasn't it fun there? Don't you miss it?"

'I suppose, but I have more important things to do.'

"What?"

'Becoming the strongest and crushing all who stand against me… You for instance' the bitterness evident in his voice

"But I'm not trying to hurt you."

'So? You're still my jailer and I assure you, the only reason I've bothered helping you survive was because if you die, I die and the second I am free, I will eradicate you and this rotten cesspool of a village for having dishonored me by imprisoning me here' Nine growled.

"You'd do all this just for your stupid pride! Why must there so many people like you who kill and slaughter for such STUPID REASONS!" Naruto screamed frustrated from what he heard.

'I AM THE GREATEST OF ALL DEMONS!' Nine roared at Naruto's impudence, 'And you are a fool! In this world only the strong matter. They decide who lives and who dies, who can be happy or not! Right and wrong, good reason or bad reason, none of it matters so long as you destroy those against you! I destroy others because their very existence sickens me just like how the villagers seek to destroy you!'

"I know." Naruto stated, "And that's wrong."

'Really brat? Big words considering what a spineless worm you are'

"That's why I will grow strong." Naruto said willfully, "That way, I can help people. Like Mel helped me."

'Damn you're stupid' Nine said sighing, 'you'll understand soon enough I suppose. Hopefully you won't kill us in the process though.'

"You're wrong, you'll see. I'll be the greatest hero ever!"

'Whatever brat. Whatever. I've had enough of listening to your stupid screechy voice for the day.' Kyubi said as he slowly cut the connection between them leaving Naruto to ruminate on what he said.

But how was he to get stronger? There was the shinobi academy but that was incredibly risky with all the shinobi there. They would probably try to make some "accident" happen or something. And worst of all though, could he become like them? The idea of him dawning one being like that monster from before sickened him to the core but it seemed like there was no choice. He needed strength to stop them, to change things and that academy was the only place where he could get it. He'd need to ask Mel about it though.

When she finally did return, she looked very worried on her own. It didn't help matter that Naruto then chose to ask her about joining the shinobi academy.

"Are you certain Naruto?"

"Yes, I want to become stronger. To defend myself and to defend others too."

"I won't stop you. But I don't like it. You're a gentle child Naruto, truly. I don't want to see that changed."

"Don't worry Mel, I won't." Naruto said,

"I definitely won't"

What do you think of this? Hmmmm, I question whether the characters are being realistic enough, especially at this part particularly the Kyubi. I don't want the Kyubi to be some innocent character in all this but, I also don't want him to be a manifestation of evil. Also, like, summoning confused the crap out of me recently because I always thought that they were from another world but apparently not. The mount Myobokzu or something is in there world and apparently close to Konoha (enough for an underwater to tunnel to be useful) which kind of upsets me. Anyway, for me, I'm just making all the spirits in a different plain of existence. Oh and in addition, how do you think Naruto turned out? Is he like impossibly good to you? Comment please and give me some advice to help me improve!


	6. Chapter 6

Little By Little

With Mel's help, Naruto finally registered for the class a month ago but with the class still two months away, Naruto had much work to do before then. Training just outside of town, Naruto ran yet another mile. Whether it was the Kyubi or simply his will, Naruto quickly grew stronger. Every day, he would run throughout village and soon, he could even jump along the trees with an cat-like grace. One thing however, remained beyond his reach: Ninjutsu.

Despite his best efforts, Naruto could not utilize the jutsu from that day. Trying to concentrate on being back home, Naruto yet again had no luck.

"Hey Nine, do you think you could help me do that teleport thing again?"

"Well, first and foremost, you have to have you learn to use your chakra but since I don't know any handseals to teach you, we're going to have to do some training exercises like tree climbing."

"But I can already climb trees." Naruto said as he jumped down.

'With your feet I mean. I saw a lot of shinobi do it before so it shouldn't be too hard'

"My feet? Really?" Naruto said craning his next to try to see the top.

'You already feel the chakra, whenever you jump, try to detect the people around you, you can already use it, now you just need to focus it into your legs and then climb.'

"Okay…" Naruto said talking a deep breath as he closed his eyes, "I think I got it"

'Well? What are you waiting for, an invitation? Start climbing!'

Sprinting with all his might, Naruto charged for the tree. Stepping his foot on the on trunk, Naruto lunged upward and quickly… Fell. On the ground. Painfully.

"OWWWWWW!" Naruto said rubbing the ice-cream scoop sized bump on his head.

'You idiot! You didn't use enough chakra! And don't land on your damn head, it's damaged enough as it is.'

Slowly getting up, Naruto again lunged at the tree unfortunately falling again but this time on his back. Again and again Naruto tried and again and again he failed until finally, his back was covered with bruises.

"What's wrong with me? Is it because I'm not strong enough?"

'I'm not sure kit, you should be much strong enough, perhaps we should try something else'

"Gee, ya think?" Naruto said bitterly as he rubbed his back.

'Quit whining you worthless baby and just start standing on your hands.'

"Alright" Naruto said now standing on his hands.

'Now focus on that same energy like before but this time, instead of holding it, just make it explode to jump you. When you can jump maybe foot, you should be able to try climbing again.'

"Okay" Naruto said drawing his chakra once again.

*thump*

Naruto barely even moved with only a small puff of dust to show for his efforts.

"Hut! HUT! HUT!" Naruto grunted trying to make more of an impression.

*thump* *thump* *thump*

No luck. After just a few minutes Naruto soon found himself collapsed on the ground unable to move.

'You're focus is awful.'

"What do you mean, I'm trying as hard as I can."

'But you're not focusing your chakra _properly_.'

"Then what do you suggest-"

'SHHHH!'

Birds chirping? No, too many. It seemed like chirps though. Wanting to investigate, Naruto cautiously began to sneak in that direction.

*Chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi!*

And there it was. Standing in a clearing was another one of them. Seeing the left side of its face, Naruto stood shocked at as he saw one of them for the first time without a mask. Its hair was a ghastly gray and it had a glowing evil red eye with a scar going through it but even all of this was nothing compared to what the thing was holding in its hand. It seemed like an orb of lightening barely contained within his palm and it was growing in size by the second.

"Nine, we need to get out of here." Naruto said quietly as his palms grew sweaty.

'Not yet. Don't worry, I am disguising our presence and this is prime opportunity for you to learn about your enemy'

It lunged forward suddenly charging like the very lightening in its hand and before Naruto could even blink, its hand collided with a think, wooden post making an ear-shattering explosion as dust flew out in all directions. Covering his ears, Naruto could barely register what just happened. Even in his wildest dreams Naruto never imagined such awe-inspiring power to come from these shinobi and as the the dust finally began to clear, only one thing was still there.

The post was completely obliterated with nothing but blackened ash left scattered on the ground and it stood there motionless. Still holding its hand out, which was smoking from the impact, its eye remained focused and most of all deadly. Taking this time to escape, Naruto finally let out the breath he was holding as he fell to his knees.

'Do you see now kit? And that's nothing compared to the hokage.'

"You're right. I have to get stronger. Much stronger if I'm going to stand a chance."

Heading to a much farther training area, Naruto tried another hand stand. As he closed his eyes, this time, the fear was much stronger. A charging red eyed demon now awaited inside his conscience. The adrenaline coursed through his body like firey blood and veins began to appear around his face pulsing as he slowly drew it too his hands. His hands grew hotter and hotter as though they were on fire.

*BOOM!*

Naruto shot almost two feet into the air leaving him aghast as the ground suddenly got further from him. Falling back down face first, Naruto was unperturbed as he jumped back to his feet with a grin on his face.

"I did it!"

'Don't get cocky brat! You only did that because you were scared shitless by that guy. Keep doing it!'

"You've got it!" Naruto said about to continue his training when suddenly-

*GROWL!*

It was lunch. Stopping instantly, Naruto got up to meet with Mel.

'God Damnit kit! What happened to training?'

"Well I'm hungry so hush" as he uncharacteristically skipped back to the village to meet her at her store. Making his way there, he entered the store to find it as vibrantly colored as ever. Naruto had never seen these flying paper thingies before- kites, Mel called them and they certainly amazed him. He tried one before and it was fun that is, until he crashed it into someone. It was okay though, that guy hated him before that anyway.

"Naruto! Sorry, did I forget again?" She said looking up at him as she was sewing together a large phoenix-shaped kite.

"Yeah but it's okay, is now a bad time though?"

"No, I'm fine now." she said putting the kite down gently, "People haven't been coming around that often."

Naruto glowered at hearing this. He knew how people hated him and isolated him and it wasn't a stretch for them to hate her as well for defending him.

"Anyway, I found this nice place nearby we should go eat today." She suggested happily.

"But wait, remember how-"

"Don't worry Naruto, they're good people, trust me." She said taking his hand. That wasn't the only thing that bothered Naruto about going out though. With the villagers realization that Mel chose to be with him and knew what he was, their whispers had turned intensely bitter.

"I can't believe that stupid bitch actually chooses to be with it" someone whispered.

Naruto fists clenched.

"That whore of a woman doesn't know she's getting into"

Naruto's fists clenched tighter.

"We should just kill her along with that disgusting demon"

Naruto palms were starting to bleed now as his fingernails dug into the flesh fueling his already extreme rage.

"Naruto, calm down, it's alright she said, hearing him growling at this point."

"There's not insulting me now. There also insulting YOU." Naruto whispered wanting desperately to put those jerks in their place.

"Naruto," She chided gently, "remember what I've told you?"

"Yes, Mel" Naruto said unhappily, "'Sticks and stone may break my bones-'"

"But words will never hurt me." she finished for him, "Okay? So don't let it get to you."

Naruto looked down and scowled in response.

"Now, now, enough of that frowning Naruto. Look we're here" she said gesturing to the stand in front of them. Stepping past the curtain door, the two entered to see a middle-aged man polishing a counter.

"Hello Teuchi" Mel said waving her hand, "I'd like to introduce you to someone, this is Naruto."

"Hello Naruto, you hungry?" Teuchi said resting his arm on the table.

Naruto nodded slightly in fear of what he was going to do.

"Well what do you want to order Naruto?"

"Ummmm... uh… I don't know" Naruto said as he tried to pick something out from the long confusing list.

"How about I start you on the house special then huh? Oh and don't worry, first time's on the house." Teuchi chuckled as he stared down on the cute, perplexed, little boy.

"Really?" Naruto said shocked

"Yes" he chuckled again, "really. And what about you Mel?"

"Chicken."

"Cool, well I'll get on your orders now" He said as he headed to the kitchen leaving Naruto and Mel alone.

"So Naruto, are you sure you're okay on your own? I mean, I know you're used to it, but I still worry how this is all affecting you."

"It's fine Mel, don't worry." Naruto said trying to assure, "I'm happy training by myself and even if I wasn't, no one would play with me anyhow."

"I suppose…" She trailed off, "So how is this 'training' of yours anyway?"

"It was okay. I saw one of 'them' again" Naruto said quietly whispering the last part.

"A shinobi?"

"Yes, one of the grey ones."

"You mean an ANBU right?" she said eyebrow raised.

"Is that what they're called? Anyway, they're…" Naruto glanced from side to side, "monsters."

"Monsters?" She snickered

"Yes! I saw one without a mask today. It was horrible!"

"Are you talking about their scars Naruto?"

"No… he was- he was like a demon." Naruto said face full-blown with fear.

"You mean like… 'it'?" She asked now looking at him intently with confusion.

"Worse." Naruto said hunching over like turtle with his hands clenched together.

"How so?"

"He had evil eyes that were bright red and he had this gauntly silver hair but worse, he was holding a lightning in his hand like in the stories."

"Well, the ANBU have a lot of different powers so I guess that is possible for one of them to be like that but Naruto, why were you even watching him?"

"I was kind of curious I guess, I mean it was making like a 'chichichichi' sound and I wanted to see what it was and when I got there he destroyed a log!" Naruto said waving his hand in the air to try to emphasize what he was saying.

"Still Naruto, you need to be more careful. I mean, what if he saw you and… just try not to do that."

"I understand."

"But look at what I can do now!" Naruto said beaming as he got down to make a handstand. Concentrating on his hands, Naruto felt the chakra pool there with the blood until finally it exploded sending Naruto into the air for a few seconds before finally plummeting back onto the ground onto his face.

"Oh my god! Naruto are you okay?" Mel said rushing to his still body.

"I'm fine" Naruto said lifting his head smiling, "But wasn't that cool?"

"NO!" Mel said indignantly as she examined his head for bruises, "You just landed on your head, what if you got brain damage or something?"

"But I was able to fly like super far that time!" Naruto said defensively as he tried to get up.

"That doesn't matter!" She shouted as she hugged his head close to him, "What if you broke your neck and died! What then! How do you think that would make me feel!"

"I'm…I'm sorry" Naruto said eyes downcast.

"Now don't do that again Naruto." Mel said sternly.

"Okay."

"Promise?" Mel asked sternly

"Promise"

After this, silence fell on the two. No one ever cared about Naruto getting hurt before and to have someone freak out over something such a small thing was nice. One time, he fell down the stair and the lady simply laughed at him. All of this was like actually having a mother for once.

After a few more minutes, the food was finally ready and it really was quite good to Naruto. Then again, almost everything was good to Naruto these days as he was used to eating slop back at the orphanage. Finishing it all, it was time to get on with their day.

"Have fun training Naruto and remember your promise" she said as she walked him to the meadow.

"Don't worry Mel, see you tonight!" Naruto said waving as he went to resume his training. Returning to the tree, Naruto prepared to try to climb it. Gathering chakra to his feet, he rushed it yet again but this time, he felt his first step stick.

"Woo HOO!" Naruto screamed happily as he jumped backward onto his feet.

'You idiot! That's nothing to be proud of! You barely got anywhere.'

"Hey Nine?"

'What?'

"How does this all work? You know, the tree climbing thing."

'I don't get what you are saying brat.'

"Well, just think about all this." Naruto said as he scratched his head, "how is that if I put a lot of chakra into my hand, I can blow myself off the ground but if I put less, I can stick to a wall?"

'That's just how chakra works kit.'

"But that doesn't make any sense! That's like it's glue one second and rubber another!"

'Look kit, there is a lot of things in this world that doesn't make sense. Deal with it.'

"Then is there anything else I can do with chakra?"

'Difficult to say as it depends on the individual. It can give you extreme strength and agility, heal people and I've heard it can even call forth the elements. And this isn't even considering hand seals yet.'

"Wow"

'Now if you're done asking question, get your lazy ass back to the tree.'

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

As he returned to his exercises though, Naruto's thoughts drifted back to what chakra could do. It made the impossible possible and if it could be made 'sticky' couldn't it be made 'unsticky'? Could it be made rubbery? What exactly was he dealing with? It seemed there was just so much he didn't know and so much he couldn't do that he felt overwhelmed.

_All I'm doing is running up trees and even with this I'm having trouble. I am just so weak _Naruto thought as he tried to make that second step. How long would all this take? Would he ever be able to stand against them? It held lightening for fuck's sake, what the hell was Naruto supposed to do against that? Run up a tree like a stupid cat? Not likely.

The hours flew by as Naruto slowly started getting higher and higher but only slightly. He finally got a second step up but it was exhausting.

'This is enough kit. As pathetic it is, you have improved slightly today. Let's just head back to rest.'

"Yeah, it is pathetic"

Getting up, he trudged home. Walking into town Naruto scowled as he walked through the town taking in the people who roamed at this time. Drunks and worst of all shinobi walked freely leaking out animosity towards all those near them.

"UGGGGHHHH!"

"What was that?" Naruto thought looking into an alley to investigate the noise only to instantly regret it.

"Heyyyyyy you!" Someone slurred out at him.

Naruto groaned. It was that drunk, has-been shinobi again. He'd throw stuff at him and yell insults, it was just intensely bothersome.

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah you! I am sick of you… you walking by here every day like your super important or sumthin" the drunk said grabbing Naruto's hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I lost everything to you, you worthless bastard!" He said taking out a rusty old kunai, "My family, my friends, everything! And tonight… I'm going to get my revenge."

Trapped in his iron grip, Naruto desperately tried to kick his way out but it simply too rough. What could he do? He needed to take him out somehow but he didn't have anything. The drunken man was flailing the kunai randomly now giving him several scratches and as that was when it hit him. That move with the hands!

"Focus everything. I've only got one shot" Naruto thought to himself as he balled his fist. Gathering everything, Naruto's fist connected with the guys arm.

*Bang!*

His arm flew back finally letting go of Naruto arm as they both stumbled to the ground.

"You damned demon" the drunk shouted clutching his arm.

"Yeah… Well fuck you" Naruto said bitterly as he crawled to his feet.

Walking away, Naruto could not believe that he was able to defend himself today against one of the villager.

"Just you wait" Naruto said grinning to himself as he reached his home, "one day I won't just be a defenseless little boy. One day."

First and foremost. I would like to apologize for my tardiness. I had finals this week.

Anyway, overall, I think that this chapter just went terribly. It seemed hard to write but I wanted something to act as a transition to another chapter and I wanted to provide some snapshot I guess of Naruto's day and add some new information. I also wanted in this chapter to have Naruto develop a hatred/fear of Kakashi. I mean, in reading Naruto, one think that really irritates me is the lack of consequences and on another note, the lack of specificity of concerning Naruto's past. I mean seriously, they never say ANYTHING about Naruto past at all. Like, everything concerning Naruto past is symbolic. They show him in the middle of a bunch of random people staring at him and that's pretty much it. Then they say how much Naruto has "suffered" in his childhood and that despite this, he ends up loving and devoting himself to said village that apparently made him "suffer" so. It makes no sense to me and I feel like the village actually _profited_ from mistreating him because it made him dedicated to trying to earn their love and that just really grinds my gears. And like, in the manga, all of a sudden Naruto's parents suddenly start popping out of his subconscious telling him all sorts of fact. I mean, they had the time to do all that but NOT find him a foster parent? I just feel like everyone just absolutely dropped the ball in his upbringing. Also, I felt like Naruto just seems way to normal to have suffered all that. Anyway, please R&R for me.


	7. Chapter 7

The Good Outside

Naruto really needed to get new clothes. They were patched all over the place and not to mention, he was growing pretty fast now that he was getting healthier food. Unfortunately, it was very apparent from the last try that no one was going to sell him decent functional clothes. Today however, Mel said things would be different.

"Naruto are you ready?" Mel asked as she came into the room.

"I guess so."

"Well then c'mon, we've got a lot to do today."

Looking outside, Naruto was awed by different the village looked today. Arches of all sorts were placed over people's heads and tents and stands of various hues were all over the place giving off a sense of happiness to an otherwise miserable and boring place. Even more wonderful though, were these new faces that Naruto saw. Hundreds and hundreds of people dressed all funny were all waving and smiling at him like never before gesturing him to look at their things and soon, Naruto arm was a blur as he tried to wave at everyone he saw. It was truly one of the most astonishing and heavenly moments Naruto had ever seen.

"Can we go here Mel? Huh? Wait-wait. Let's go there! No, no there!" Naruto said running around trying frantically to figure out where to go first.

"Calm down Naruto." Mel said laughing at the hyperventilating little boy, "There'll enough time to see everything once we finish getting what we need"

"Aw man" Naruto said kicking the dirt

"Now, now, now. It shouldn't take all that long Naruto I mean, look, there's someone selling clothes right ahead of us." And sure enough, there was.

"My, it looks like you need some new clothes huh, squirt?" the man said standing in his store as he looked down on the boy.

"Yes, and he's trying to be shinobi so something durable would be good."

"No problem, let's see… well squirt, why don't you first tell me what you are interested in."

"A suit of armor. Like this!" Naruto said taking out a crudely drawn picture of some sort of golden… something.

"Uh huh." The man said sweat-dropping, "We're kind of out of… that so why don't we try something else."

With that sadly not being available, Naruto looked through the story for something suitable before finally settling on an orange looking jumpsuit.

"Absolutely not Naruto" Mel said quickly shooting down the idea.

"Why?"

"First and foremost Naruto it's not good for a shinobi-to-be to where bright orange and second… it is definitely not going to help you make friends."

"Fine. But the I don't know what to get!" Naruto said exasperated.

"Well then let me try and pick something out." The man said grinning at the little boy.

Taking out several articles of clothing, the man handed them to Naruto to try out. Changing into them, Naruto looked absolutely adorable. He was now wearing small blue shorts and black shirt all topped off with a small little orange and red bandanna.

"AWWWWWwwww!" Mel said staring at the little boy.

"What?"

"You just look so cute now all neatly dressed and everything" Mel said putting her hands on his shoulder as Naruto beamed with pride.

"You do look handsome squirt. So are you guys interesting in buying?"

"Yes, we'll need five sets of clothes though, and how much is it all?"

"You know what, since that kid over there likes my clothes that much, I'll give you a discount so how about… this much" He said taking showing her the calculator.

"Wait! Mel, I get money since I'm living on my own so I can-"

"No, it's fine Naruto, you should save that money for later for something that you want." She said giving money to the person as the two continued onward.

"Is everyone like that outside of Konoha, Mel?" Naruto asked.

"Well Naruto, the world is full of all sorts of people. You'll find people who are kind, people who are mean, and people who are just outright weird I mean, just look around you!" She said gesturing to some of the performers that were starting to appear.

"I wish I could see for myself one day." Naruto said, "Anywhere else seems better than here."

After several hours more of shopping and returning things to the apartment, Naruto finally got to do to have some fun.

Games all over the place, Naruto played all sorts of things he had never seen before. There were ball throwing games and fishing with nets and _none_ of the even so much as scowled at Naruto. Best of all however, were the kids that these people brought.

"HIIIII!" A girl suddenly said popping out besides Naruto causing Naruto to jump in shock.

"Do you want to play with us?"

"Me?" Naruto said looking around.

"Yeah, silly, we need another person for soccer!"

"Well, go ahead!" She said nudging him forward "I'll be waiting by that bench over there!

"Uh, okay" Naruto said looking at Mel before finally walking with the little girl. She looked to be his age although unlike the girls around here, she wore a green dress and a weird wool hat.

"So what's your name?" she asked looking at him.

"Uhm, Naruto" Naruto stammered out trying to avoid eye contact.

"Something wrong?" She said innocently.

"No." Naruto said rubbing his now sweaty hands together.

"Well why aren't you looking at me?"

"Uhm-well- that is" Naruto stammered trying to figure out what best to say.

"Do you not like me or something?" she said as tears started to appear in her eyes.

"No" Naruto yelled as he waved his hands across his chest, "I-I-I just uhmmmm, never played soccer before."

"Oh, well that's fine. You'll learn quick now come on." she said taking his hand, "Move faster, all of them are waiting!"

_That's right! There's more than one of them. _ Naruto thought as a worried look adorned his face.

"C'mon we're here" she said pointing at to a group standing in a field.

"Wait! Maybe I should, uhm, get shoes or something or-or-or"

"Oh come on Naruto! It's okay, it'll be fun I swear!" She said dragging him along.

As the two came closer to the group, all eyes fell on Naruto as he struggled to deal with all the attention.

"…Hi…" Naruto said bashfully, "I… heard you needed another player so…"

"Awesome! You found someone, that's great!" a boy said walking towards Naruto.

"Put er there."

Seeing his hand out, Naruto awkwardly and delicately took his hand out to try to shake.

"You're a weird one alright but that's cool, c'mon let's go play."

"Wait, he doesn't know how to play." The girl said stepping forward.

"Don't worry it's simple, you see the those nets on the sides of the field?" he said, "Well, just try to get this ball in the opposite side but NO HANDS."

"Oh… okay"

"You'll be with us on this side" the guy said gesturing to right.

Slinking over, Naruto looked at all the kids around him as the game began to start. Kids were running all over the place kicking the mysterious ball but what was Naruto to do? He was way faster than these kids thanks to all his training but should he be trying his best? What if they got angry or jealous or something? If that's the case, how fast how should he go? After all, he couldn't be too bad or they might get upset. Trapped in such thoughts however, left Naruto oblivious to the task at hand.

"HEY! He's coming right at you!"

"What!" Naruto said shaking his head out of his daze only to see a guy charging at him.

"AHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he covered his head expecting some kind of tackle.

That… was not the case however. Simply running around Naruto, he scored successfully leaving a humiliated boy in his wake.

"Sorry?" Naruto said smiling awkwardly as he braced himself for the insults that were sure to come.

"Don't worry about it." One of the kids said laughing as he patted Naruto on the back, "Just get it together, we wanna win here so give it all you got."

_They're not mad? _Naruto thought as he nodded to the boy. None of the children there seemed at all upset with him. In fact, they were all just having fun.

Renewed by this warmth, Naruto himself began to laugh as game was back underway. Playing his hardest now, Naruto soon realized that the game was not as easy as he first thought. Sure, he was definitely faster, but he his dexterity seemed rather poor. Tripping over his own feet and the ball, Naruto could barely make passes at all to the others making him totally ineffective. Furthermore, being the first time playing with others, he couldn't keep up as the others were shouting all sorts of things to him and after several hours, he had a painful headache from trying to understand everyone and was sweating bullets.

"It's pretty late." one of the kids shouted as the sun was setting, "So let's make this the last goal!"

_Damnit! _Naruto thought, _This is my last chase!_

Rushing for the ball with everything he had, Naruto chased after the kid with the ball to try and take it from him. Chasing him for several minutes, Naruto saw his chance and taking it, finally stole the ball. Kicking it with all his might, he launched the ball strait across the field scoring on the goal.

"That was incredible!" the other kids shouted as everyone swarmed the boy.

Receiving praise from everyone, Naruto was on the verge of tears as he pinched himself to make sure it wasn't a dream.

_This...is the best day of my life_ Naruto thought as he felt the pain of the pinch ensure his consciousness.

"That was awesome Naruto, but hey, we gotta get going." One of the kids said as they all began to walk back to their respective families.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted not wanting them to go, "Do you want to play more tomorrow?"

"Sorry, but our parents are only here for the festival. By tomorrow we'll all be back on the road"

"Really?"

"Yeah, sorry, but maybe we can see you next year."

"Yeah" Naruto said as he watched them leave, "next year"

Standing in the now empty field, Naruto did the only thing he could do now that they were gone. He cried. Deeply. He wished he could go with them with Mel. To another place much nicer than here, where people welcomed him with open arms and smiles.

_One day I'm going out there_ Naruto thought wistfully as he finally turned him around to head to the dark village that awaited him.

So, what do ya think? I wanted to have this chapter from the very beginning because I always felt that Naruto's should probably have liked foreigners a lot and that he never really is shown to demonstrate that in the story. I mean, he even went on a journey for 3 years and there is nothing to show for his first trek meeting people who didn't hate him although I guess it is possible for Jiraiya to have manipulated him during this trip to make Naruto more loyal or something. That just how I feel on the whole anyway. More importantly, please R&R! I want to improve!


	8. Chapter 8

First Day of School

Thing's were really starting to look up for Naruto. He had finally finished the tree walking exercise and even learned to walk on water after! Not only that though, his room looked much better. He now had clothes, furniture and best of all, some toys! Such things, however, were dampened by what today was.

_Maybe things won't be so bad. _Naruto tried to assure himself, _I mean everything else has been going great, maybe shinobi school will too._

Standing in front of a huge building with a red roof, Naruto took a deep breath as tried to move his rooted feet from the ground.

"Don't worry Naruto, everything's going to be fine" Mel said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know." Naruto said defensively.

"Well, you need to hurry, class starts in less than a minute."

Stepping forward, Naruto trembled as he finally shoved the door open with a loud 'CREAKKKKK' that unfortunately caused anyone inside to stare at him. To his right, perhaps a hundred students were all looking at gazing at him from hundreds of desks on a stair-like floor and if Naruto felt nervous before, he was now hysteric.

"You…" and adult said disgustingly to him as he stood behind a podium, "Find a seat."

Naruto nodded, as he the silently scuttled to look for a seat. Finding an unpopulated area in the back corner, Naruto sat down as he watched with a distraught look as Mel gave a final wave and disappeared from view leaving Naruto utterly alone in this large, imposing hall. As the minutes slipped by, more and more late students flooded in filling the spaces around him for Naruto, it became suffocating. Paralyzed all over, Naruto robotically turned his head to look at the student next to him as he tried to choke out some words.

"H-H-H-Hi! I'm-"

"GRRRRR!" the student growled.

"Eep!"

Trying to crawl into his shirt, Naruto tried harder than ever to avoid being noticed.

_Please let this day end soon._ Naruto thought as tried his best to focus up front on all the adults that slowly started streaming in. All wearing green vests and metal forehead protector, many of the adults had scars covering their faces giving them an imposing look as they all tried to size up each student. Moving their eyes through each student, they each gave Naruto a scathing glare as they realized his presence causing Naruto to silently whimper to himself.

"Now!" One the adults shouted to the students finally breaking the edgy silence, "All of you here want to be shinobi. Look around you. Most of you will not make it. It is grueling unforgiving life where you are constantly going to be in danger and most of you will give up. Quite frankly, I would be quite happy if _some_ of you give up this instant. Regardless, that is your choice."

"Annnnnnyway," Another one stepped forward, "why don't we all introduce ourselves, I'm Iruka and believe it or not, I like practical jokes although not _too_ many of them."

As everyone introduced themselves one by one, Naruto tried to sink into his seat as it was finally his time.

"Well!" one of the teachers said angrily, "Hurry up we haven't got all day!"

"Well… I'm Naruto and… and I-"

"Oh for heaven's sake, he's not going to make it as a shinobi anyway, let's move on." The teacher said waving him off, "Let's start with what it means to be a shinobi. First, one must love the village and be willing to sacrifice your life for its safety. Can you do it! Because those who can't are worse than scum and deserve a fate far worse than death."

Naruto shrunk even more as he felt the man glare daggers at him when he said the last part. It only got worse though as the man began listing more 'rules' each seeming more and more uncomfortable to Naruto.

"A shinobi is weapon, he must cut down everyone and everything. Mercy, kindness, they are weaknesses that only hinder you. To be the strongest you can be, he must purge such emotions to best serve his village."

_Purge them? _Naruto thought as he remembered those scary ANBU, _That doesn't sound like a good thing._

"A shinobi must always put the mission first. One's comrades and loved one's are secondary for it is always the village that is first."

_My loved ones? You mean Mel? _Naruto asked in his head, _I don't think I could ever sacrifice her._

"And that is what you must always remember as a shinobi for you must always adhere to them."

Naruto folded his arms and crinkled his eyebrows at this.

_Yeah? Well I think I want to be a shinobi so there_.

"Now that's enough lecture for today." The teacher said finally ending his preaching, "now we're going to do some shuriken training so everyone, let's head to the training field where Ebisu will go over the various types and proper form."

_Finally!_

The nearby field was lined with posts with red circles on them and leaning next to one of the pools was one of the few shinobi teacher who didn't have a scar. Instead, he had a pair of sunglasses and a bandana and juggled some kunai with one hand.

"Hello, my young students, you are most fortunate to be under MY magnificent teaching. Stick with me and those who are worthy will surely rise to greatness."

Taking out several different shaped kunai, he then started to explain each one and its differences but Naruto noticed that one of them wasn't present.

_There aren't any like the one I have_ Naruto thought curiously as he examined the kunai that was passed around.

They were felt weirdly light in his hand and sort of unbalanced and even had a different texture to them compared to the fancy one he practiced with at home.

"Now let's do some practice." Ebisu said taking the kunai from Naruto and throwing it at the target, "There's some kunai by that training post over there, now I want you to get into groups of three and practice with three kunai at a time. I'll be walking around to give advice as I see it."

As everyone started getting into groups, Naruto tried helplessly to find others to work with. Sadly, people were less that cordially.

"Hey, you want to go-"

"No."

"What about you-"

"My parents told me to stay away from you so go away you stupid-head!"

Everyone refused to work with Naruto and the worst part was that there was an even number of kids.

_Great,_ _looks like I'm on my own._ Naruto thought as he went to train with himself.

Grasping kunai, he went to the furthest training post as he tried to figure out how best to hold it.

"What are you doing?" Ebisu suddenly popped out behind him.

"Uhm… training?" Naruto said unsure how to answer.

"Are you stupid or just obnoxious?"

"What?"

"I told you to work with others you brat!"

"Well I tried but-"

"Hey! Everyone, come on and see the 'Great Naruto' here show how he doesn't need to work with anyone!" Ebisu shouted to everyone bringing their eyes on Naruto.

"Well, hurry up."

Taking the kunai in his hand, Naruto tried to throw it like he did with the one he had at home. Instead of going straight however, the kunai ended up twirling like a throwing knife causing it to veer far off from the target causing everyone to laugh at the sight as Naruto cheeks burned with humiliation.

"Ha!" Laughed Ebisu, "That was even more pathetic than I imagined! You should do us all a favor and quit you evil, incompetent brat."

_Damned bastard. _Naruto thought as he glared at the teacher who was now swaggering away.

Training for a few more hours, Naruto finally got the form right not that anyone cared around here just in time for the class to end giving Naruto some time alone without one of those god-awful teachers. As the other students all ran home with their parents, Naruto himself snuck off to look for the library.

Finally finding a small red room lined with bookshelves Naruto went to look for information on chakra.

Chakra it seemed, could be bent to one's will like clay and in fact, there were hundreds of unique ways to use it. The Nara clan for example, somehow managed to imbue it into their shadow or something to choke people making it an almost unstoppable attack. One could even control the very elements with one's chakra and one of the Hokage could even grow TREES! The possibilities seemed endless.

_But how does this all work!_ Naruto thought trying to figure out how to mold chakra.

Just by adding chakra, the Hyuga could fuck up a guys innards which was apparently, the exact same thing as the chakra he used to climb trees. Apparently, they "burst" it like he did, but they also "sharpened" it to pierce through to body and "softened" it to flow through one's veins. Looking at his hands, Naruto just didn't know what that meant. What could he use to "sharpen" chakra or such? Feeling the chakra to pool into his hands, he tried to will it to change. Nothing. After another hour of more reading and practicing Naruto finally threw his hands in the air in frustration.

"Damn it, Nine are there?"

'Yeah I am, I've just been thinking about things.'

"Well, do you have any ideas on how to do any of this."

'Didn't you learn any of this in class?'

"No weren't you here? They didn't teach me anything!"

'I was distracted! Anyway, what is it you want to learn?"

"I've reading up on this and I've been wondering how to mold chakra."

'I honestly don't know kit, aside from making me physically stronger and faster, there's little that I know of and to do what I do is simply impossible at your age as it will degrade you developing muscles and chakra network.'

"Than what am I supposed to do?"

'Just practice some of those academy jutsu then'

"Huh, fine." Naruto said, "I need to learn those hand seals anyway"

Renting out the book called Basics with Hand Seals, Naruto went out to the now desolate training field to practice. Reading the first few pages on hand seals and the 'bunshin no jutsu', Naruto tried to make gather the chakra within his core as he began to make the necessary hand seals.

"Let's see, Ram… Snake… TIGER!" Naruto shouted as he felt the chakra leave his body. Feeling a sense of sudden exhaustion, Naruto collapsed as he looked around for any clones of him. Seeing nothing, Naruto tried re-reading the book to find out what he was doing wrong.

"Hey, kid!" someone suddenly shouted from behind Naruto, "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be home?"

Naruto froze as he heard this person. The person seemed to not know who he was at the moment and if turned his head around, he'd be recognized immediately.

'Pick up a kunai or something dumbass! He might attack once he sees who you are!' The Kyubi screamed trying to get Naruto to move.

"Hey kid are you all right?"

Hearing the grass crunch louder and louder, Naruto knew he was getting closer and following the Kyubi's advice, he picked up his book to throw in case he needed a distraction.

"Kid!"

The guy was right behind Naruto now and was shaking him for a response.

"Are you alright"

Naruto nodded silently as he looked down to prevent him from seeing him.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You're a student right? It's me Iruka, do you need help? Or are you lost?"

Naruto gave a deep sigh. This was not going to end well.

"I'm fine"

"Are you sure." he said as he moved to be in front of Naruto, "You seem upset."

Bending down to look at Naruto's face, the man's eyes widened as he finally saw Naruto's face.

"It's-" the man said shocked before covering his mouth.

"Yeah it's me," Naruto said bitterly not wanting to deal with this, "is there a problem?"

"No!" Iruka said waving his hands in front of his chest, "there's nothing wrong."

"Then can you please leave me alone. I'm trying to figure out how to this jutsu correctly"

Watching that teacher run off, Naruto bitterly laughed. Such kindness until he saw his face, it truly was laughable.

"I hate this place."

So what do you think? Did I portray everything well? Is everything believable. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Revisited

It's strange really, Naruto feeling nostalgic. He was treated terribly until he met Mel and yet, he had at least some desire to see the orphanage. Perhaps it was because they were less violent and mean-spirited with their… 'pranks' than the academy students but regardless of the reason, here Naruto was walking down that old road. Finally seeing, the dilapidated building, Naruto couldn't help but notice it was a lot quieter than it usually is.

Heading towards mostly broken old wooden fence, Naruto peered over to try to get a good view and surprisingly, it was completely desolate. The swing were unused and broken in places, the sandbox was missing one side and grass had grown tall inside the once active play-area

"Hello?" Naruto shouted.

The wind howled loudly in response, as if telling him to leave.

Stepping toward the entrance, he gave a loud knock.

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

The door gave way creaking open as though it was never closed and Naruto was wide-eyed as to what was inside.

_How long have I been gone? _Naruto asked to himself as he looked inside.

The first floor was dusty and unused and as Naruto stepped forward, each floorboard made a loud creaking sound making Naruto flinch each time. Aside from the signs of decay however, everything seemed alright. No blood, destruction or anything so Naruto could not help but wonder what happened.

_Maybe they moved_ Naruto thought as he scanned the first floor. Toys and playthings however, were still on the ground seemingly abandoned without reason and going upstairs, he found the condition very much the same. Clothes were still there, books remained on shelves, beds still remained in corners, if they moved, why didn't they take any of this?

Looking at a group of pictures, Naruto noticed the large lettering above it.

'Field Trip Soon'

_Field trip? That must be it but, we never went on field trips before._ Naruto thought as he scanned each picture for clues.

"None of the kids seem to know Nine."

'What about the adults? They had to have known something.'

The mysterious caretaker's room had long been forbidden to the children and opening the room, Naruto could not figure out why. This room was completely empty save for some wooden furniture and in fact, it seem like no one ever lived here before.

'That settles it.'

"What are talking about Nine? Nothing's here."

'Exactly. Who do you think could take all these kids with _anyone _noticing?'

"You mean the ANBU? But why would they do that?"

'Who knows, maybe they just needed some slaves or something.'

"No. No, I mean, the hokage wouldn't really just kidnap and use all these orphans. Would he? There must be some way to find out."

'I wouldn't try kit. If the ANBU are involved, that just means it's going to be dangerous. Besides, didn't these kids treat you like shit?'

"Yes, but I still don't feel comfortable about a bunch of kids my age just suddenly disappearing."

'True, it might happen to you if left unchecked, so where should he start?'

"The hospital. I think they might have some information on the orphans."

The hospital was definitely the third scariest place to Naruto next to the Hokage tower and the academy. Huge and imposing, the place had always frightened Naruto and the fact that there were needles and other sharp objects inside never helped. Finding the clerk at the desk, Naruto took out a large list of names.

"Uhm, excuse me, I'm looking for-"

"I'm busy." The clerk said glaring at Naruto as he read some document.

"Then can you show me where to go to-"

"No"

_Damn you._

'What are you stupid?' the Kyubi chimed in iratated, 'Just use your damned transformation technique you moronic waste of flesh.'

"Right" Naruto whispered.

Despite the initial difficulties with using the hand seals, Naruto had finally managed albeit, not perfectly, to use most of the academy jutsu. Running back outside into an alley, Naruto did the appropriate hand seals giving the appropriate puff of smoke.

Now looking like a very ugly man with a humongous nose and whiskers, Naruto went back inside to try his luck again and this time, the man only flinched instead of scowled at his appearance.

"Ummmm, can I help you?"

"Yesh" Naruto said trying his best to sound old, "I need to look up an orphan who sheems to have gone mishing"

"Well, let me check so please wait here." The clerk said as he went off to a room behind him.

Returning shortly, she placed a large folder in front of him.

"This is the list of all the orphans who have been adopted in the past ten years."

Taking the folder, Naruto skimmed through looking for a few of the names on his list and as he expected, it all came up empty.

"Excush me, what about orphans who are not adopted?"

"There are none. They've all been adopted."

"Really?" Naruto said as he stared at him incredulously.

"Don't worry sir, orphans are common here so if you're looking for someone to adopt, just wait another month"

"I shee. But I'm not looking to adopt, I'm just looking for some kids whose parentsh I knew. Here's a lisht." Naruto said as he handed the small paper he had to him.

The clerks face clearly began to darken as his eyes as his eyes roamed the list.

"There are no orphans in existence with these names."

"Can't you-"

"There are none sir, I assure. Perhaps you have the names or something."

"I shee. Good day then" Naruto said as hobbled out of the hospital.

Returning to the alley to undo the transformation jutsu, Naruto gave a sigh in frustration.

"They're lying to us Nine"

'No shit genius.'

"I can't believe the Hokage would do all this though. I mean, sure he might be after my life for containing you but they were for the most part, harmless."

'More importantly kit, is not what's happened to them but what might happen. If the Hokage kidnapped those kids, he's probably going to be after you soon as well so be alert. He might even be watching us right know for all we know.'

"Yeah. Let's get going."

Returning to the orphanage one last time, Naruto made a mound of stones a foot high and laying a single stick on top he placed his hands together. Giving a prayer for their safety, Naruto made his way back home with an emotionless look on his face. He had a lot more training to do.

R&R! Por Favor!

Later anbu searching for old man Naruto


	10. Chapter 10

Hidden Secrets

With the entire orphanage having disappeared from existence, Naruto was now the only one left leaving a sense of emptiness for the lone survivor.

"I wonder if anyone else even cares about their disappearance." Naruto said dazedly as he walked to school that day.

'Yeah so?'

"It's sad. I mean, they always treated me badly but, now that I think about it, their lives weren't much better. That woman hated all of us after all even if I was her "favorite" and she certainly made it apparent often."

'Yeah yeah yeah, you sniviling bitch, keep crying 'cause we both know how great that has worked out for you I mean damn, what exactly would you have done differently huh? Stayed there and be a weeking like the rest of them and meet the same fate?'

"I guess not but- ooof" Naruto said before colliding roughly into someone.

"Hey watch it you... _you_" the tall man said as his eyes turned to slits with the last word.

"S-s-sorry" Naruto said waving his hands in front of him frantically.

"Yeah right, I oughta-"

"Hey! You two, get out of here! Quit making a disturbance" Shouted a shinobi walking towards them trying to shoo them away.

"But wait I need to get to school." Naruto protested quietly.

"Well you can't go through here!" The officer said scowling at the small child, "There's been an incident here so get lost!"

Running away frantically, Naruto eventually stopped to catch his breath as he looked back to confirm that he wasn't being chased.

'Heh, heh Interesting'

"What?"

'They were blocking off the "great" Uchiha compound and I also detected a lot of blood in the air'

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously trying to understand the Kyuubi's thought process.

'I mean a lot of people must have died, probably those Uchihas.'

"Really?"

'Yeah'

"You seem upset" Naruto said noticing a contemplative tone in his voice.

'Hm.'

"Well?" Naruto said trying to urge him to talk.

'...'

"Argh!"

Giving up on the Kyuubi, Naruto eventually reached the school finding that things seemed... different. The air was so heavy and somber that even the normally rambuncious kids were brought to whispers as the Ebisu glared at them with an almost menacing feel.

"Nine, look, that kid Sasuke, he's also gone." Naruto whispered quietly as he pointed to the normally filled seat up front.

'...'

"Do you think he... you know..." Naruto gulped, "died?"

'...'

Eventually, as even the whispers died down, Ebisu finally stepped up to the front desk before making an announcement.

"Last night, this village suffered a horrid atrocity on epic proportions. One of the greatest clans of the world were wiped out completely save one survivor and now, we are trying our best to fill the void by their loss and to find the villain responsible. Therefore, class is canceled today. You are free to go home."

As the boys looked around shocked and girls gasped loudly for their "Sasuke-kun", Ebisu ushered everyone outside to go home. Naruto however, had other plans.

"Nine, what do you think happened? Do you think it has something to do with what happened with those orphans?"

'... maybe.'

"Then... shouldn't we go, you know, investigate?" Naruto asked uncomfortably.

'...'

Sighing loudly, Naruto ran to get to the eastern wall of the Uchiha compound. What many people didn't know was that with the wall being as ancient as it was, there were several poorly fixed fractures which Naruto took advantage of multiple times while trying to escape many would be bullies. Crawling through a child sized hole hidden at the base of the wall behind some bushes, Naruto's found the place oddly empty. While blood stained many places, there was little else and as he continued to walk, he eventually heard voices in the distance. Rushing to them, Naruto eventually reached a shrine, where he quickly hid behind a staircase where he could finally make out what they were saying.

"Ugh, these bodies smell something awful. God, can you believe how bad they would smell if we had to do this tomorrow or something?"

"I know," another voice said, "thank god we're almost done though now c'mon, we don't want make Danzo angry"

Peeking up from the stairs, Naruto instantly recognized that grey armor along what must have been masks and as he stood there frozen in fear, the two of them hefted a single, bloodied body before disappearing in a flash.

"It's those same monsters." Naruto whispered before collapsing to all fours with widened eyes, "They must have been responsible for this."

Slowly and shakily getting back up, Naruto quietly and slowly walked to where they just were to look at the pool of blood that remained and as he stood there, he finally noticed an open door to the right of him. Inching over to it, Naruto peered inside to see that it was empty except for a hole where a mat had been removed revealing a flight of stairs into the darkness.

"What do you think Nine?" Naruto asked, "Should we check it out?"

'… Do what you want.'

"Nine, why do you seem so… upset"

'…'

"Ugh, great"

Walking down the flight of stairs into the darkness for who knows how long, Naruto finally began to see a candlelit cave as a scroll in the center. Walking towards it Naruto struggled as he slowly made out what it was saying.

_Of the great Uchiha Clan, two men have successfully awakened the Mangekyo sharingan. Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha, twins of the era before the shinobi villages. While it is unsure of precisely how one awakens the ability, it is believed to be caused by the killing of one's best friend and even with the ability, unlocked, further sacrifices are needed. Madara Uchiha suffered from overuse of his eyes and eventually resorted to taking his brothers giving him greater power while blinding his brother causing his death. With this new found power however, Madara Uchiha was able to summon the famed Kyuubi and enslave it to his will attacking the village with it before being repelled and killed by the First Hokage._

The story went on further but Naruto had already read enough. Was this why Nine was so odd today? Was he truly evil like what he had heard then or was he just a pawn in some Uchiha's designs. Done with the book, Naruto returned home as he struggled to find meaning in this new found knowledge and for what it meant about the "evil" demon.

As my readers may have noticed, I have been offline for a very long time which can be attributed to several reason some less excusable then others. I was working over the summer and later I had my laptop stolen and all of this really blunted my momentum but I hope to start pumping out chapters faster for now. As for this chapter, I really struggled with what it would be on and actually rewrote it several times. I am not too happy with the results and I feel like maybe I put too much in with too little details but I couldn't think of anything to add. I don't know, but any comments would be appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

I am alone.

Chapter 11

A week after the investigation of the Uchiha compound, Naruto was no closer to understanding what the monsters were doing therewas. The village seemed content with the story that one crazy teenager slaughtered the entire clan but Naruto wasn't but no one was helping him find out more. The Kyuubi had refused to talk to Naruto since the incident and Naruto wasn't comfortable about talking to Mel about it leaving him alone and directionless so far. Fortunately, today was going to be the day that Sasuke would return and hopefully, Naruto could get some help and maybe a friend. Entering the class, Naruto chose this time to sit in the front corner where he could be closer to Sasuke who was at the center. Looking at him now, it was clear that the incident seriously affected. He used to seem really happy (although still somewhat mean to Naruto) and was always laughing and yet now, he seemed cold and explosive which was not unnoticed by the rest of the class.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" One of the girls asked him.

"Hmmmm" Sasuke muttered quietly and angrily.

"Sasuke, I wanted to give you this card to help make you feel better" Another oddly pink-haired girl said.

"Hmmm"

As the girls slowly balled into a swarm, Naruto was confused as to what drove this action. I mean, the girls never seemed this nice before, why now?

As the teacher finally came in, the girls dispersed quickly with them trying to sit as closely to Sasuke as possible which wasn't very good for Naruto.

"Hey, get out of that seat, I want to sit near Sasuke" a brown haired girl said.

"Huh?" Naruto said quietly, scared of this girls sudden act of hostility, "But I was here first."

"Ebisu! Naruto took my seat!"

"Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto said now adding confused to the list of emotions being felt.

"How dare you steal one of you classmate's seats. Return it immediately!" Ebisu growled at the small boy.

"But I didn't steal it!" Naruto said meekly now even more scared.

"And lying as well? Give her back her seat or I will see you suspended!" Ebisu said now red with rage causing Naruto to fall out of his seat with fear.

Now scared to death, Naruto scurried as quickly as he could back his usual shaking all the way as the girl smiled maliciously at him. Sitting down, Naruto tried desperately to sink into his seat as much as possible to avoid the man's wrathful glare. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ebisu pushed his sunglasses up to the bridge of his nose and proceeded with the class.

_They seem to be really concerned with Sasuke. I wonder why. _Naruto thought watching as nearly all the girls were surrounding him staring somewhat dazedly at him.

As the class proceeded onward, it eventually came time for taijutsu practice. Going outside, Sasuke was quickly paired against that scruffy boy with the dog and jacket, Kiba.

"Let's have fun!" Kiba said warmly.

"Hmph!"

"Now begin!" shouted Ebisu

"Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

_What? _Naruto thought

_ "_What?" Kiba said

"Fwooooooosh!"

Suddenly, a gigantic ball of fire engulfed Kiba turning him and his dog in a sooty, charred coughing mess as the girls cheered.

_Holy Shit! _Naruto said watching this incredibly brutal display towards someone who was trying to be nice to Sasuke right before.

"Hey, I thought this was only taijutsu!" Naruto said defending the still smoking Kiba.

"Weeeeell-" Ebisu said

"You fight to win." Sasuke said suddenly interrupting him, "That's all that matters loser."

As Sasuke turned his back to Naruto to sit by a tree, the girls all cheered him on as "cool" while Ebisu simply nodded approvingly making Naruto seethe with how much of an asshole Sasuke was being.

As the day passed, class was finally finished leaving Sasuke suddenly being thought of as the hottest and coolest person in school and Naruto upset.

Heading over to Mel's store, Naruto was staring down at his feet as he entered the room uncomfortable as she was working on her newest kite.

"Hey Mel." Naruto said quietly

"What's wrong?" She said not even looking up from her work.

"Nothing." Naruto said weakly.

"Really?" Mel asked

"Mmmm" Naruto said uncomfortably, "Weeeeeell, Sasuke came back to school today."

"Oh that boy, is he alright?" Mel said standing up to put her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I guess. I don't know. He seemed like a… jerk today." Naruto said struggling for the words.

"Naruto, you shouldn't think that." Mel said.

"I know but…" Naruto said shifting his feet.

"He's just having a rough time." Mel said comfortingly, "All he needs is a good friend and to know that he isn't alone and maybe right now, he seems unreasonable, but just give it time and effort, it will work out."

"I guess"

'Pfffft… That's bullshit'

"Huh? Oh, um okay Mel." Naruto said surprised that Nine had finally said something.

"Good, now just wait a minutes for me to wrap up alright?"

"Yeah" Naruto said as he quickly ran outside into an alley.

"Nine, was that you?"

'You are a fool to try to befriend that Uchiha'

"Are you upset because his family enslaved you?" Naruto said inquisitively

'The Uchihas are a self-obsessed, violent bunch constantly focused on talking of how great they are and stealing the hard work of others. You would do wise to find different allies.'

"So you are angry with them." Naruto said firmly, "And they did enslave you and make you attack this village."

'Heed my advice kit.' The Kyubi said clearly losing his temper.

"But even if that did happen Nine, you can't just keep focusing on it I mean, Sasuke had nothing to do with it." Naruto responded.

'He will use you if he can, if he can't, he will ignore you, it is in their foul blood and if you won't listen to me, then find out for yourself." The Kyubi said before growing silent.

"Yeah, I will!" Naruto said defiantly as he walked back to the store, "And I'll prove you wrong."

Reaching back to store, Naruto arrived just in time to see Mel flip the "Closed" sign and lock the door.

"There you are," Mel said, "are you ready to go home now?"

Naruto nodded.

"But Mel, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure" Mel said as they started walking.

"How should I make friends with Sasuke?"

"Well, Naruto keep in mind that right now, it might be best to just leave him alone. After all, he just lost his entire family and feeling sorry or trying to understand him might just make him angry because in the end, no one can understand what another person is going through without having gone through it themselves."

"So when should I start to talk to him then?"

"No one can really say, just whenever you think it is right." Mel said giving a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Okay, I'll try" Naruto said giving a sigh.

"That's all we can expect Naruto."

As the days continued to pass, Naruto returned to class making no effort to try to talk to Sasuke as Sasuke was still his brooding self but this could not be said for the rather persistent girls.

"Sasuke, my mom and I made some cookies for you." One of the girls said smiling as she tried to hand him a bag.

"Hm"

And for a while, this was the usual happenings and oddly enough, Naruto seemed to be the only one to notice the fact that Sasuke just threw away their gifts as soon as he could which personally, made Naruto quite angry especially because no one ever even said hi to him let alone give him anything. Regardless however, Naruto resolved to stay calm and collected lest he screw up his one chance to make a friend in his grade.

Or so Naruto attempted.

Sasuke grew more and more angry with the girl's behavior over time and eventually, it proceeded into something more than just verbal.

"Sassssssss-kay!" One girl shrilly shouted holding a tray of some kind of sweets, "I made you some-"

And suddenly, Sasuke's arm flew up sending the tray flying into the air scattering colorful treats everywhere leaving the girl shocked and frozen.

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted with an aura of red hot fury engulfing, "You stupid jabbering idiot, go away and leave me alone!"

"Hey!" Naruto said infuriated as he stood up from his seat to glare at the Uchiha, "What the hell was that!"

"Mind your own business loser." Sasuke said returning the glare.

"She was just trying to be nice, you didn't have to act like… like… like a total BASTARD!" Naruto said veins popping.

"Leave Sasuke alone!" One of the girls shouted defending Sasuke as they all simultaneously concentrated their hatred on Naruto, "No one likes you anyone loser."

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Naruto responded with a confused and angry look on his face, "Sasuke is a total fucking asshole and you're gonna defend him?"

At this exact time however, Ebisu chose to enter the room causing Naruto's eyes to widen knowing that this wasn't going to end well for him.

"What do you think you are doing!" Ebisu said maliciously, "Picking on Sasuke after all he's been through. Have you no shame."

"Yeah!" The girls said in support.

"Go outside for punishment you worthless scumbag." Ebisu said pointing to the door.

Filled with rage, Naruto noisily got out of his seat and as he stomped out, he glared fiercely at the entire class.

Walking outside, Naruto was tied to a pole by Ebisu who then proceeded to stand over him with a dark hateful distorted look on his face.

"I still can't believe they let a evil monster like you enter our academy" Ebisu growled angrily, "I should kill you right now, not like anyone would miss you. Go to hell"

Finally spitting on Naruto, Ebisu turned around and left leaving Naruto to his thoughts and his humiliation.

_Told you. _The Kyubi said in a serious tone.

"Shut up. I know" Naruto said silently as slowly, his anger finally gave way to sorrow and as his eyes lost their fire, were replaced with tears.

"I… know" Naruto repeated again and again as the tears rolled down his face.

I am not sure how good of an ending this but I kind of don't really know what to add. Ho hum I guess. Anyway, comment please. It was awesome that so many of you are now following me and it would be great if you could give some advice or support so PLLLLLEASE!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Strength is more than fancy jutsu

"Those stupid girls. That stupid Sasuke"

Muttering to himself in his corner, Naruto was bitter over the events that happened almost a week ago now and the way the class was acting certainly didn't help.

"Good morning Sasuke!" Ebisu said beaming at the still moody boy as he kneeled to eye level with Sasuke.

"Morning Mr. Ebisu" Sasuke said emotionlessly.

"After discussing it with the other teachers, I Ebisu, have decided to personally tutor you to make since you no longer have anyone to help you at home."

"I see."

"Stupid Uchiha" Naruto whispered overhearing them.

Standing up, Ebisu then proceeded to write "Kekkai Genkai" in big letters on the board before turning to the students.

"Today, we are going to be learning about inherited techniques or kekkai genkai, and several of the more famous ones of our village." Ebisu said as he scratched more things onto the board, "The first known inherited or kekkai genkai came from the Sage of the Six Paths, does anyone know who that is?"

The blonde girl of the class, Ino, raised her hand.

"Yes Ino?"

"The Sage of Six Paths was the very first shinobi who first understood how to mold chakra and spread the ideas of Ninjutsu and later became the savior of the world for ending the wars back then." Ino said proudly, "He also famously possessed the Rinnegan which was supposed to be an extremely powerful doujutsu."

"Very good Ino, so yes, he was the one responsible for bringing the shinobi age to our world and yes, he did possess the Rinnegan, one of the world's three famous doujutsu which is currently believed to be extinct. The other two fortunately, are both proudly in this village namely, the sharingan and the byakugan and both of which are in this classroom"

Ebisu then gestured to the Sasuke and that quiet girl, H-something, Naruto couldn't remember.

"You should take a look at these two" Ebisu said loudly, "They will likely go on to change the world and are certainly blessed to be so powerful."

The girls in the class were now ecstatic at this point with almost hundreds of "Oh Sasuke, you're so cute" and other random loud sounds and cheers.

Naruto on the other hand, gave an exasperated sigh.

"And of course, there are others such the mokuton jutsu which allowed the shodaime to create and generate wood however, that too is now extinct along with many others but this isn't the only thing that can be inherited. There are also things like the clan techniques which while not blood related, are secret and thus, only wielded by one great family which have time and time again served our village. Examples of these include our own Shikamaru Nara's shadow bind technique and Ino Yamanaka's mind possession jutsu both invaluable to the defense of our village."

Ino gave a puff of her chest at this while Shikamara snored quietly in his seat.

_This is the supposedly great invaluable people? _Naruto thought skeptically with one eyebrow raised.

"Of course, even though they are clearly more talented than most of you, you shouldn't lose hope" Ebisu said, "After all, the Hokage himself does not have any kekkai genkai of his own and if you train hard enough, perhaps one day you will be as great as me although, in all likelihood, you probably won't."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

As the day wore on, Ebisu continued to run his mouth on how great these clans and such were and eventually, Naruto just had enough and just lost all resemblance of focus choosing to instead stare out the window and imagine how he would kick Ebisu's ass when he got older.

"Hehe" Naruto giggled to himself silently as smiled at the idea of Ebisu getting the crap kicked out of him.

_One day kick everyone ass_ Naruto though gleefully, _And I'll do it with some kickass jutsu and I'll call it… super Naruto jutsu!_

_ "_Naruto!"

_Crap!_

_ "_Have you been paying attention at all?" Ebisu said haughtily knowing that Naruto didn't.

"Uh, yeah" Naruto said lying poorly as the kids around the class started snickering.

"Then, would you mind telling me of the Akimichi's clan technique?"

'They get really fat!'

"Nine?" Naruto whispered himself

"Well, I'm waiting."

"Uh, um, they… they… they get really fat?" Naruto said uncomfortably.

The class was silent. At least for a few seconds before finally-

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Suddenly the class was a firestorm of laughter leaving a very confused Naruto, a sad tubby kid sinking into his seat, and an extremely angry teacher.

"Quiet! Quiet everyone!" Ebisu said loudly quickly quieting everyone down.

"Now listen here everyone. That was in no way funny. In fact, all it shows is that Naruto is and always will be, a worthless moron. The Akimichi clan is a powerful and in fact, I am certain Chouji will be 100 times the shinobi that Naruto will ever be."

"Grrr" Naruto said under his breath although to be quite honest, he wasn't at all surprised by that comment.

"But seeing as how everyone already seems to have had enough, let's all head outside for sparring." Ebisu said earning the cheers of many of the students as he then ushered them all outside.

Once outside, Ebisu started listing the names for the first spar.

"Naruto and Shikamaru,"

_Huh, this should be easy._ Naruto thought as he looked at the boy who was now rubbing his eyes tiredly as he walked into the circle that they would be using to fight.

"The rules however, are going to be different this time." Ebisu stated, "This time, you are now free to do whatever you need to to win."

_Yeah, because Sasuke was clearly following rules when he barbequed Kiba _Naruto thought as he rolled his eyes yet again.

"Begin!"

Naruto immediately charged and like so many times before, Naruto quickly began to overwhelm his lazier opponent. Dodging another slow punch, Naruto ducked and gave a quick uppercut sending Shikamaru into the air as he then fell onto his ass. As Naruto got closer however to finish it, Shikamaru then made an odd handseal he had never seen before and just as suddenly, Shikamaru's shadow lunged at him grabbing Naruto's.

"What?" Naruto shouted as his body suddenly started moving by itself causing his legs to fall out from under him to mirror Shikamaru's stance.

Getting back up Shikamaru forced Naruto to do the same walking closer together, Shikamaru turned them around by going in a circle and walking back, walked Naruto right out of the boundary.

"Winner, Shikamaru!"

"What the fuck was that?" Naruto whispered to himself as the shadow receded back to its owner leaving Naruto to check his arms and legs to see what might have happened.

'You got your ass handed to you, that's what happened' The Kyubi chimed in.

"Exquisite Shikamaru, although I suppose the outcome wasn't a surprise. You are of the super-genius Nara clan, and Naruto here, we'll, he's just a worthless orphan."

Naruto scowled at this.

After class, Naruto was still seething over his defeat as he walked outside to the sunny day.

"How, did that happen? I… I didn't even stand a chance." Naruto said as he scratched his head rapidly.

'What can be said, that kid is just stronger than you'.

_ "_But it's not fair. I-I've trained nonstop and all he's been doing is sleeping how- It's now fair!"

'Yes, because your life has been nothing but fairness since you've been born.'

"I know, but why is it that some people get everything and others get… you. Those stupid clans, it's not fair! They have money, crazy powers and jutsu while I just have myself and you!"

'You're pathetic.'

_ "_Thank you, that's so helpful."

'You know what you're problem is? You keep thinking of these… people as your friends or comrades when in reality, they aren't. Do you think any of them give a shit about you? In fact, I bet that if you just upped and died tomorrow, no one would notice except that bastard Mizuki who throw a fucking party! They are your enemy and they have the advantage, deal with it or you'll just die like the worthless crying piece of shit that you continue to not change.'

"What are you talking about? I've been training non-stop to try and make myself stronger!"

'Then you need to train more! Honestly, is that such a hard concept for you to understand? Get stronger, or don't and suffer, there is nothing you get simply from trying.'

"I'll show them one day then. I'll get stronger than all of them combined, that'll show those jerks. I'll prove to them that those stupid kekkai genkai don't mean crap!"

Stomping outside, Naruto decided to take a detour through to woods to help let out some steam.

Jumping through the trees, the solitude proved to be a blessing to Naruto as he took a deep breath of the fresh damp air.

_It's so peaceful _Naruto thought to himself, _The singing birds, the crickets, the rustling trees in the wind, those voices nearby… wait, what?_

And sure enough after just a few seconds, Naruto happened upon three boys surrounding a girl nearly a head smaller. Quickly ducking behind a tree trunk, Naruto cupped his ear to listen to what they were saying:

"You think you're so great don't you?" A boy's voice said, "Just because you're part of that Hyuuga clan huh? You're probably just like that stupid obnoxious Neji prancing around telling people who important you are huh princess?"

"N-No I just... just have-"

_Wait, that girl sounds familiar. _Naruto thought as he poked his head out to see and sure enough, there in the center was one of his classmates. She was one of the weirder kids really, just slightly weirder than the weirdest kid who wore a trench coat and sunglasses and it wasn't just because of her translucent violet eyes. She, unlike the other children of the class, actually wore shinobi-esque clothing having on at the moment black pants and shirt with some fishnet stuff underneath which only complemented her dark blue bowl cut hair style. Overall, at first glance she seemed like a capable shinobi at least, if wasn't for the fact that she was bowing at the moment so cowardly.

"What's the matter cat got your tongue? Or are we 'normal' kids unworthy to talk to?" Said one of the boys who had a really, really round head, "Well sorry we can't all be born with fancy eyes to peek at people. That's probably what you isn't it? Peek at people like some creepy pervert."

_So must belong to that Bakugan clan or something. Interesting_ Naruto thought as he observed the scene. As for the boys, Naruto never saw them before and based on their looks and actions, it seemed like they must have been talentless older kids at the academy.

"I wonder if I should do something." Naruto whispered hoping that the Kyuubi was listening.

'Why? Didn't you yourself say how much of an ass those clans are?'

"I guess so." Naruto whispered uncertainly, "But those other kids seem… bad."

'Yeah, they are definitely scum bags who won't amount to anything in life and are ganging up on a girl way smaller than them so? Doesn't mean you need to help that clan bitch. I mean, remember that time you defended one of Sasuke's bitches? So why bother?'

"Yeah" Naruto said resigned giving out a sigh that was just a little too loud.

_Damnit!_

"Hey!" One of the kids, a fat boy with green overalls shouted, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"It's that freak," Another tall skinny boy said, he's in this girl's class. What do you want?"

Naruto opened his mouth to say something only to come out speechless.

"Well?"

"…Nothing" Naruto said finally lowering his head.

"Then get the heck out of here! Can't you see we're doing something?"

Naruto turned around slowly, but before he left, he turned his head back to look at the girl. Her eyes seemed to plead desperately for help so much like Naruto's own eyes looked and seeing it, a part of Naruto wanted to remain. It wanted to stand strong and tell those boys to leave her alone. But a bigger part of him didn't see the point in sticking his neck out for others. Turning his head back in front of him, Naruto walked away, forcing down the sinking feeling in his chest leaving the group to themselves.

_That… that was the right thing _Naruto said to himself, _I mean why should I care what happens to her? She's never done anything to help me and even if I did try to help it's not like she'd be nice to me. Yeah, she'd be just like those stupid girls who like Sasuke. And besides, she has that eye thingy, she could take of herself if she needed to. Yeah, she didn't need any help, she was probably trying to prank me or something. Yeah. Yeah, I did the smart thing. Yeah, I mean- _

"Um, Naruto?" Mel's voice said shocking Naruto out of his thoughts.

Looking around suddenly, Naruto realized that he was already at the very center of the village and that Mel was waving her hand across his face rapidly.

"What?" Naruto said disoriented.

"You walked right past my store and I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Naruto said defensively.

"You tell me."

"I… I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmmm, okay, but if you want to talk about it later, I'm available."

Mel chose to let it go after that but Naruto did not have as much luck. That night Naruto tossed and turned constantly thinking of that girl.

_I don't even know her name, why do I care so much. _Naruto thought to himself as he rolled onto his back. That moment with that girl had burned itself into his mind and what truly haunted Naruto was that sometimes it wouldn't be her he turned his back on. Sometimes, it would be himself.

Finally getting up, Naruto walked stealthily outside making sure not to wake Mel into the dark new-mooned sky. With nothing for light, Naruto gingerly stepped down onto the streets as he crept quietly along the wall using the stars to guide him.

'What the fuck are you doing kit? Are you wanting some kind of death wish fulfilled or something?' The Kyuubi said breaking the stifling silence.

"I-I need to find out if she is okay. She is with Hyuuga clan so she should be at that gated place near the academy.'

'You're not going to sleep until you do this are you?' The Kyuubi said with a resigned voice.

"Nope"

'Stupid brat. Fine, this could be a good opportunity to work on your stealth which you quite frankly still suck at.'

"Thank you Nine."

'Whatever, do you remember anything important there?'

"Yeah, there's a wall surrounding it on all sides, no opening at all except this gate with two mean guards that are always glaring at me."

'Wonderful, are there at least any tall things we can use to get over the wall?'

"I think there is a tree I might be able to climb up with I get a stool or something."

'That'll have to do, now keep in mind, you're going into a place where people can fucking see through walls so it's imperative that you not arouse any suspicion at all. One wrong move and they'll use their eyes to find you instantly and well, do you know what they can do if they find you?'

"No"

'They have this trick where when they hit you, they send a violent surge of Chakra into your chakra network which will fuck up your organs. I personally felt this and while I don't have organs it still stung.'

"Got it."

Arriving at the point, Naruto steadily made his way over the wall and quietly making his way he made his way into large building at the center and making his way silently through the corridors, Naruto thanked the heavens that most of the rooms had a sign over it until finally he reached what appeared to be the rooms of individual people. Doing his best to slide the fancy doors open, Naruto creaked each until finally, he found what he was looking for. Sleeping quietly by a window in her bed, Naruto sneaked in and on closer inspection, Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Her head was bandaged and an exposed leg was covered in bruises causing Naruto to back up clutching his head.

_What did they do to her?_ Naruto thought to himself horrified, _What did I do to her?_

'Huh, odd, even I didn't expect them to be this rough.' The Kyuubi said with a disinterested voice.

Tears on the other hand, were starting to leak out of Naruto's eyes as he fell to his knees.

'What? It's not like it's your fault. If anything it's her's. I mean seriously, how weak do you have to be to get this fucking beaten up? Now c'mon, we gotta get out of here.'

Shuffling out slowly, Naruto returned home. Not to sleep though, he already knew he wasn't getting any of that.

The next day, Naruto arrived at school and more of all surprised to see that the girl was there looking perfectly fine.

"What the hell?"

'Healing shinobi I guess. They can patch people up pretty quick.'

As the day wore on, Naruto was unable to focus. No matter what happened, his attention kept roaming back to that girl who Naruto realized for the first time sat on the corner opposite to him. Sitting there shivering like a leaf, the girl's head was facing the still blank board and she seemed to be breathing erratically. Giving it up trying to resist it, Naruto trained his eyes on her intensely to better understand this girl.

_Is she still hurt? _Naruto asked himself unsure as he moved his head to see if he could spot anything.

_ I don't think so. But maybe it is because it is being covered by her clothes._

Naruto attempted to casually walk by her to better see.

_Hmmmm she still seems okay on this side._

Naruto returned to his seat to better observe noticing now that the girl was sweating a little and that she was fiddling with her index fingers.

_Is she hot?_ Naruto said wondering what triggered this, _Is she turning red? Wait, yeah she is. Did she notice me._

Her eyes shifted to him.

_Crap._

Naruto turned his head away from her briefly covering it with his hand. Turning back, she found that girl was now sweating even more profusely and that she seemed to be in a personal earthquake of sorts.

_What's wrong with her?_

Naruto had never seen this type of response to him before and now was more curious than ever about studying her.

Staring at her for nearly the entire class, Naruto started writing notes about her until finally, a massive breakthrough occurred.

_Could she… be scared of me?_ Naruto asked himself finally notice the similarities of her behavior to some of his own, _But, I've never even hurt her. Why would she be scared of me?_

Finally making the conclusion that yes, she was indeed scared of him, Naruto just couldn't understand why. No one was ever scared of Naruto, ever. Granted everyone hated Naruto but that wasn't the same thing and observing it now made Naruto uncomfortable. As the class finally finished, the girl ran outside at lightning speed to which a surprised Naruto gave chase only to find her having disappeared.

_Where did she go? _Naruto asked himself as he ran around confused trying to see through to other students until finally, rounding a corner-

*BAM!*

Naruto ran headfirst right into her.

"OWWW! Fucking damn it! Son of a fucking bitch!" Naruto shouted letting out a slew of Kyuubi taught swears before finally realizing it was her.

"Uh, hi" Naruto said waving a hand awkwardly.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" the girl suddenly shouted

"…What…?" Naruto responded dumbfounded

"I'm really sorry. She said covering the top of her skull."

"Uh… No, I was the one who ran into you." Naruto said as he observed the girl who seemed to have shrunk before him.

"Mistress Hinata!" Someone shouted suddenly breaking the moment.

"Who?" Naruto said turning around to see a man with the same weird eyes as her run toward them.

"Is this scumbag bothering you?" The man said glaring at him.

_Crap, I'm gonna get in trouble again. _Naruto thought resigned

The girl however, did something odd. Unlike the other girls, instead of instantly screaming at how evil Naruto was and how he did a bunch of random things he didn't do, the girl quietly turned her head to look at him. Then, confounding Naruto even further, she shook her head.

"Oh, well, Ms. Hinata, we need to be getting home for tutoring and we're a little late, so we need to hurry."

The girl, finally identified as Hinata, got up quickly and clutching the man's pant leg, walked away with him leaving Naruto sitting there with his mouth open.

"What… what just happened?"

'She was scared of you and ran off. What do you think happened' the Kyuubi said dully.

"I know, but… I've never heard someone say 'I'm sorry' to me before besides Mel. And why didn't she try and get me in trouble with that guy that came"

'Weeeeell, she was scared of you. She probably thought that if she did, you'd beat her up or something.'

"What! I'd never do that" Naruto said aghast.

'That is probably why everyone else still treats you like shit dumbass. People treat you nicer when they know you can and will beat the shit out of them.'

"Oh."

'Trust me, the sooner you start beating the fuck out of people, the sooner they start 'liking' you and being your friend, it's why everyone here likes the hokage.'

Naruto cringed a little hearing this.

Getting up, Naruto didn't like what he heard, but it made sense in a twisted way. That if he started being an asshole, people would treat him better after all, it seemed to work with Sasuke but, still, that seemed so wrong, so… like the villagers and Naruto didn't want to be like them. But in the end, did he have a choice?

Reaching Mel's store, Naruto felt like he was carrying a ton of lead slouching over with his eyes downcast.

"Hey Mel."

"Hello Naruto." She said dropping her tools to look at him, "You look upset, do you want to go to Icharaku's?"

"I guess."

"Well let's get going then."

As Naruto and Mel continued on the their way, the whispers as usual bombarded them like hail and hearing it made Naruto lower his head further.

_Is the only way to get them to stop to beat them? Is there no other way?_

Arriving there, Naruto sat down and looking at Mel who looked so peaceful, he finally decided he needed answers.

"Do you think the villagers will ever like me?"

"So that's what's been bothering you." She said looking at him comfortingly as she patted his back.

"Well Naruto, to be completely honest, I am not sure. They might never like you just because of what you were born with and that's wrong but let me ask you this question, what do you think of me?"

Naruto looked up unsure what she meant.

"Well, you're my only friend. You're really nice and you helped me survive, you've taken care of me, you… you're the only person I can go to for help and you've taught me a lot. You're… really important to me." Naruto finally said trying to sum up how much he needed her.

"Now let me ask you this, do you think the villagers like me?"

"No, they hate you." Naruto said feeling ashamed, "Because of me."

Mel pulled Naruto into a hug which caused Naruto's eyes to widen.

"Naruto, sometimes, to do what's right, it sometimes requires doing it alone. Sure, I could have gone away and would I have gotten more friends in this village as a result? Yes, but that's wrong. What the villagers do is wrong, and they may never change but in the end if they don't like you, they shouldn't matter. What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong, even if you aren't rewarded or punished for it. For example, people who kill others and get away with it are wrong even if they aren't punished and people who help the sick are right even if they aren't rewarded. As long as you like yourself and are proud of what you've done that's all that matters. Does that help Naruto?"

"A little." Naruto said frowning a little less, "So if I need to do something to make them like me that's wrong, I shouldn't right?"

"Well, what do you think?" Mel asked him.

"I got it." Naruto said breathing out a huge sigh.

"Good." She said releasing him, "Now we should order our food shouldn't we?"

"Yeah. Wait no!" Naruto said quickly raising his hand, "I… I need to go somewhere. I'm sorry Mel."

"You should hurry then." Mel said smiling at him brightly.

Sprinting off, Naruto knew he needed to find Hinata before she ended up like before. Running around, Naruto was quick to find her, this time at the swings at the park crying alone. Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto ran to approach her who was now just raising her head to see him, eyes wide.

"Hey Hinata! That's your name right!"

Hinata swallowed some air before nodding slowly as she started rattling the chains of the swing with her shivering.

"Good, because I have something to say to you!" Naruto said pointing his finger at her.

Collapsing onto all fours, Naruto bowed his head to her with his eyes clenched shut.

"I'M SORRY!" Naruto shouted loudly in the empty park, "It was wrong of me to run. I was a total asshole and I deserve to be punished!"

Naruto looked up at her.

"Can you please forgive me? I never meant to scare you and I would never hurt you I promise. You don't have to be afraid of me. You could run head first into me, you could tell on me, you don't have to be scared, I would never hurt anyone for such a stupid reason.

Hinata was now shaking uncontrollably not even looking at him instead looking straight ahead.

"Is this anything I can do to make it up to you? I mean, I mean I'm really sorry!" Naruto said desperately.

"It seems our princess here seems to have gotten a little servant." A familiar voice said from behind him.

Naruto gave "oh" face of realization.

Turning around, he saw those same three guys from before towering over them.

"Hey, it's that brat from before, what are you doing here? Get out of the way!" The fat one said.

Naruto looked at them fiercely.

"No, you go away! Leave her alone!"

"Aw, how cute, the little minion is protecting his master!" One of them sneered.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up? You pathetic losers picking on a small girl should go to hell!"

"Why you…" One of boys said trailing off as he stepped closer raising fist to punch him bringing it down on Naruto's face.

Ducking at the last moment, Naruto, Naruto lunged forward and concentrating chakra into his fist, unleashed it sending the boy flying a few feet onto the ground with his eyes wide in shock. Standing straight back up, Naruto glared at them.

"Now back off!"

The other two seeing this however, were unperturbed and flanking Naruto, proceeded to attack him.

Lacking any real training in taijutsu thanks in part to there always be someone else needing help before him in school, Naruto struggled heavily against them being battered all over until finally, after ducking to avoid a punch, he was kicked right across the face sending him sprawling to the ground. Getting kicked around like a rag doll now, until finally a voice was heard.

"Ms. Hinata! What's going on here?" A person shouted.

"C'mon let's get out of here!"

Naruto groaned as he rolled onto his side seeing that it was the guy who escorted Hinata from before.

"Hinata, I thought I warned last time to stay away from this… THING!" the man said staring at them.

"But-" She tried to respond.

"No buts! I leave you alone for a few minutes to buy something and I find you with it again! Now let's go!" the man said assertively as he grabbed her hand dragging her away.

Meanwhile, Naruto was clutching his stomach in pain as he let out another groan.

"OWWWW!"

'I hope you learned something from this dumbass!'

"No I haven't you stupid furball!" Naruto responded as he winced as finally got up to limp home into the setting sun.

The next day, Naruto was back in school brighter than ever standing with his head held high and his back straight. Naruto felt much better after yesterday despite the bruises although Naruto still couldn't help but frown a little at seeing at Hinata again.

"Damnit, even after everything I did yesterday, she's still the same as ever!" Naruto whispered lightly hitting his desk with his fist

'Naruto, are you retarded' The Kyuubi responded incredulously

"No, just look at her!" Naruto responded defensively, "I mean, I guess she isn't shivering anymore but look, she's still doing that thing with her fingers and sweating and look! She's even redder now! Plus, now she's staring a lot more when I'm not! I can FEEL it!"

'Naruto, she probably just… Naw, you're absolutely right, she's clearly even more terrified of you than before'

"Damn, it makes me feel really weird too, I mean, I can FEEL her fear-filled eyes on me!"

'Yeah, well what can you do?'

"Yeah, ho hum"

Suddenly-

"KYAAAAHHHHH Sasuke-Kunnnn!"

Ear shattering high-pitched destructive voices were heard all over as Naruto covered his ears as he watched the great Sasuke enter the room with most of the girls swarming around.

"Oh Sasuke! Do you want to-" One girl tried to say before getting having a hand on her face that quickly pushed her to the ground.

"Shut up!"

Naruto took this opportunity to stand on his desk.

"What the FUCK Sasuke! You arrogant prick!"

"Mind your own business loser!" Sasuke responded as the girls were now red with fire coming out their ears.

"I will if you stop being an asshole!"

"Naruto!" Ebisu shouted as he came into the room, "That's a detention."

Naruto scowled at this as the teacher smiled arrogantly thinking it was over.

"Yeah? Well FUCK YOU TOO!" Naruto screamed to the heavens as the class gasped in horror.

Sitting back down, Naruto put his feet on the desk as he looked at Ebisu's gaping mouth with a grin plastered on his face.

"That was worth it." Naruto said confidently.

'Yes indeed kit. Although he seems to be coming closer now.'

"Still," Naruto said contently, "I think today is going to be a good day."

And aside from having the bathrooms later, it certainly was.

So what do you think? Title kinda sucked I know. This episode was kind of tricky for me because I realized Naruto might be seeming a little too tough for his age so I needed to deal with that here. Overall, I think it turned out quite well and effectively helped add more to Naruto and help define his opinions and morals especially with how he views the rich clans. Right now though, I am actually quite conflicted as to what to do from here on. On one hand, I could add more to his childhood and have more funny moments (which would probably involve something about Kakashi unintentionally tormenting Naruto somehow) and to also establish Iruka as a friend of Naruto. On the other hand though, I really want to start moving on with the story and have Naruto start his massive journey. Hmmm, not sure what to do. Maybe the first ideas will be one shots. Dunno. Anyway, comment and give suggestions! I haven't be receiving any and it hurts me inside deeply. SO PLLLLLEASE!


End file.
